
































. , iV^Lv ' -- 














































J 






* 
Q 



■> 

























' 






































































v> ^ 















^ 






































v\ : 


















■' ' ^~~" - - ^ "V ''** 





































THE EXPEDITION 

TO 

THE PHILIPPINES 



By 
F. D. MILLET 

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF " HARPER'S WEEKLY 
AND OF THE "LONDON TIMES" ' 

AUTHOR OF 

"A CAPILLARY CRIME, AND OTHER TALES " 

"THE DANUBE FROM THE BLACK FOREST 

TO THE BLACK SEA " ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 




NEW YORK AND LONDON 
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 

1899 



211839 






DSu7$ 



46678 



BOOKS ON 
THE WAR AND ITS RESULTS. 

PUERTO RICO, its Conditions and Possibilities. 
By William Dinwiddie. 54 Illustrations. Crown 
8vo, Cloth, $2 50. 

THE NEW-BORN CUBA. By Franklin Mat- 
thews. Uniform in size with " Puerto Rico." 100 
Illustrations. Cloth, $2 50. 

HAWAIIAN- AMERICA. By Caspar Whitney. 
Uniform in size with "Puerto Rico." 50 full-page 
Illustrations from Photographs. Cloth, $2 50. 

THE EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES. 
By F. D. Millet. Uniform in size with " Puerto 
Rico." Profusely Illustrated from Photographs. 
Cloth, $2 50. 

REMINISCENCES OF THE SANTIAGO CAM- 
PAIGN. By Captain John Bigelow, Jr., U.S.A. 
One Map. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1 25. 

THE WAR WITH SPAIN. By Hon. Henry 
Cabot Lodge. Profusely Illustrated. Crown 8vo, 
Cloth, Ornamental, $2 50. 



NEW YORK AND LONDON: 
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 






TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 
ggfii 



.. ■ 



SECOND COPY, 







Copyright, 1899, by Harper & Brothers. 

All rights reserved. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter I. Departure of General Merritt on the Newport — The 
turbulent Pacific — The troops on board — Fourth of July cele- 
bration — A breakdown — Arrival at Honolulu — Hawaiian hospi- 
tality — A tropical Capua — A poi feast — Aloha nui,_ i 

Chapter II. The Newport leaves the fleet — Life on the transport — 
Entertainments by officers and men — A deck debating society — 
Farallon de Pajaros — Speculations and theories — The six hun- 
dred mile point — Cape Engafio — Night along the coast — The 
shores of Luzon — The entrance to Manila bay — Cavite and the 
fleet — The sunken Spanish vessels — Meeting of General Merritt 
and Admiral Dewey — Visit of General Greene, 22 

Chapter III. Landing of General Merritt — Camp Dewey — Inspec- 
tion of the lines — The insurgent position — Study of the enemy's 
works — Introduction to tropical weather — Landing of the Third 
Artillery and the Astor Battery — The censorship — Visit to Ca- 
vite — Starving prisoners — Proclamation of the Filipino Repub- 
lic, 39 

Chapter IV. Settled in Camp Dewey — Camino Real and its Bazaar 
— Money troubles — Water and rations in camp — Discomforts of 
wet weather — Fuel difficulties — The attitude of the insurgents, 
their military service and their crude organization — Frogs and 
ants — Life in camp, 52 

Chapter V. The Quartermaster's department — Absence of commu- 
nications — The cooperation of the Army and the Navy — Landing 
in the surf — Failure of the attempt to build a wharf — A dis- 
astrous landing and a successful one — Road repairing — A priv- 
ilege of rank — native ponies, 69 

Chapter VI. The insurgents juggled out of their positions — May- 
tubig and the new earthworks — The first shot at the Spaniards 

V 



CONTENTS 

— An insurgent attack — A museum piece of artillery — In an 
insurgent rifle pit — An advanced outpost — Completion of new 
entrenchments at Maytubig, 83 

Chapter VII. Visit to the Newport— Arrival of the transports of 
the third expedition — Conflagration in Manila — Engagement at 
Maytubig — Cruise on the Concord — Results of the first fight 
with the Spaniards — Imaginative volunteers — Night attacks and 
casualties — Astors repair damages to fixed ammunition — The 
burial ground and the services over the dead, 93 

Chapter VIII. Arrival of the Monterey — The field telegraph — 
General Greene visits Admiral Dewey — A night engagement on 
August 5 — Scene in headquarters camp — A plucky telegraph op- 
erator — A night in the trenches — News from Manila — A newly 
appointed Governor-General — Augustine's extraordinary procla- 
mation — Captain Chichester of the Immortalite — The unfriendly 
Germans — A night trip in a dug-out — Held up by the Monterey 
— Sunday on the Newport — A secret in the air — General Mer- 
ritt visits the Olympia — A naval launch goes to Manila, 106 

Chapter IX. The ultimatum and the correspondence — Generals in 
camp — The mud trenches — The extension of the earthworks — 
Insurgents on the Pasay road — Movement of the foreign ves- 
sels — Daring reconnoissances — Father McKinnon enters Manila 
— The Astor Battery is sent to the front — Orders for an advance 
— Disposition of the troops — Memorandum of instructions — 
Directions for occupying the town — The night before the 
attack on Manila, 120 

Chapter X. An early start from camp August 13 — A thunder 
storm and a cannonade — A long wait in the trenches — The 
squadron appears — The bombardment opens — The Callao and 
the Barcelo — The Utah battery at work — The signal station — 
Explosions in the Spanish fort — Firing on the extreme right — 
The order to advance — Up the beach — Stars and Stripes on the 
fort— The Colorado regiment and its band— Spanish snapshoot- 
ing — Behind the enemy's breastworks — Into Malate and to the 
square — The white flag — An exciting gallop across the Luneta — 
At the Puerta Real— The retreating Spaniards— A critical 
moment — General Greene enters the walled town. 136 

vi 






CONTENTS 

Chapter XL In front of the walls — The second brigade comes up 
— The advance of General MacArthur's troops — Capture of 
Blockhouse Fourteen and destruction of Blockhouse Thirteen — 
The occupation of Singalong — The charge of the Astor Battery — 
A check — The flight of the enemy — The advance of the in- 
surgents and their attack on the retreating Spaniards — The in- 
surgents under the walls — The second brigade occupies Binondo 
— Gates of the walled town are kept shut — Entrance by the water 
front and to the Ayuntamiento — Meeting of the American and 
Spanish officers — Discussion of the terms of surrender — Colonel 
Whittier's experience — Arrival of General Merritt and the 
Oregon troops — Signing of the preliminary terms of capitulation 
— The Stars and Stripes hoisted — An act of Spanish treachery — 
The prisoners lay down their arms — Dinner in the Ayunta- 
miento, 152 

Chapter XII. Manila on the morning after the surrender — Meeting 
of the joint commission on terms of surrender — The document 
finally signed — General Merritt occupies the palace of the late 
Governor-General — General Merritt's proclamation and his con- 
gratulatory order — Telegram from President McKinley — Ap- 
pointment of officials — The captured funds — The claims of the 
Hispafio-Filipino bank and of private indivduals, 168 

Chapter XIII. The attitude of the Spaniards— The position of the 
insurgents — The prisoners of war — A painful incident and a 
cruel imprisonment — The insurgents make preposterous claims 
— Failure of the expedition to take possession of the water 
works — The cable repaired — A busy night in the bay — The 
palace of Malicafiang and the view from the balcony — Life on 
the river Pasig — Primitive washing habits of the natives, 181 

Chapter XIV. The walled town — The cathedral, the univerity 
and the Jesuit church — The southern suburbs — The north side of 
the river Pasig and the districts there— The bridges — The horse 
car lines — The boulevards — The native quarters — The theatres, 
parks and statues — The tobacco factories, the cemetery and the 
observatory— The Jesuits and the refugees— The scientific work 
of the Jesuit Fathers, 194 

Chapter XV. Garrison life and duties — Arrival of the Fourth 
expedition— The Thirteenth Minnesota Volunteers appointed to 

Vli 



CONTENTS 

police duty — The insurgents grow more and more aggressive 
and independent — Soldiers perform coolie labor — The English 
residents of Manila — The statu quo and the position of the 
Spanish officials — A Jesuit tract — Trouble in Cavite, and the 
prison there — The insurgents in the suburbs of Manila — A 
soldier's letter to General Merritt — An incident of Filipino dis- 
cipline — Estimated strength of insurgent army — Aguinaldo 
moves his headquarters to Malolos — General Merritt is ordered 
to Paris and Generals Babcock and Greene return to Washington 
— General Otis takes up the work — Business revives — Insolence 
of Spanish newspapers restrained — General Otis sends ultima-., 
turn to Aguinaldo — Delegates from Malolos vainly urge modifi- 
cation of the terms of the ultimatum, 208 

Chapter XVI. The Manila and Dagiipan railway — Aguinaldo per- 
mits the manager to run trains to and from Manila — Excursion 
over the whole line — The insurgent forces at Caloocan — A pleas- 
ant country — The extinct volcano Arayat — Reconcentrados — A 
remote village — Native habitations, costumes and prominent 
characteristics — A dinner and a dance with native partners — A 
dramatic finale — Visit to Dagupan — An insurgent leader — Ex- 
cursion to the Laguna de Bay — The river Pasig and life along 
its banks — The lake, the mountains and the surrounding country 
— The hydropathic establishment at Los Bafios — The enchanted 
island, 231 

Chapter XVII. The insurgents evacuate the suburbs — Parade of 
their troops — The Congress is announced to meet at Malolos — 
A trip to that town — Interview with Aguinaldo — The town and 
the festival — The meeting of the delegates — The message of the 
President — The organization of the assembly for work — The 
enlistment of eminent Filipinos in the insurgent cause — Estimate 
of the character of the natives drawn from personal experience 
— Their remarkable temperate habits — A mistaken diagnosis — 
Their love of music — Art in Manila, 253 

Chapter XVIII. The hospital transport City of Rio de Janeiro — 
Embarkation of convalescents — The Army Regulations recog- 
nize no emergencies — Patriotic surgeons — A stranded and home- 
sick veteran — Departure from Manila — In the China Sea — 
Tragedies of the weary voyage, 271 

viii 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



GENERALS OTIS, MERRITT, AND STAFFS, AND MR. F. 
MILLET ON THE EXTREME LEFT 



Frontispiece 



WESLEY MERRITT Fac 

GEORGE DEWEY 

FORT AND EARTHWORKS, CAVITE, SILENCED AND CAPTURED 

BY ADMIRAL DEWEY 

TWO-STORY TENT OF COLORADO TROOPS, CAMP DEWEY . 

TYPICAL BAMBOO BRIDGE 

ASTOR BATTERY BOARDING CASCO TO GO ASHORE FROM 

THE NEWPORT 

HOUSE OF THE COMANDANTE, CAVITE 

UNITED STATES CAVALRY DRILLING ON THE BEACH . . 

CAMINO REAL, NEAR CAMP DEWEY 

BATHING PARADE — UNITED STATES CAVALRY 

GENERAL F. V. GREENE'S HEADQUARTERS 

UNITED STATES LIGHT ARTILLERY DRILLING ON THE 1 

I 
BEACH J- 

BATHING FOR MAN AND BEAST J 

IN THE INSURGENT TRENCHES 

RAPIDO TOWING CASCOS WITH NEBRASKA TROOPS ASHORE 

FROM TRANSPORT SENATOR 

NEBRASKA TROOPS DEBARKING AND MOVING TO CAMP 

DEWEY 

GENERAL MERRITT AND STAFF ON THE BEACH AT TAMBO 

NEBRASKA REGIMENT WADING UP THE SHORE 

FRANCIS V. GREENE 

ix 



ngp. 



IO 
30 

34 
40 
42 

44 
48 

52 
54 
56 
58 

60 

62 

70 

74 
76 

80 
84 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

TYPICAL SPANISH EARTHWORKS AND SHELTER .... 
SPANISH FIELD-PIECE CAPTURED BY INSURGENTS .... 

INSURGENTS FIGHTING IN UNDERGROWTH 

SPANISH SOLDIERS IN BAMBOO AMBUSH 

COLORADO REGIMENT KNEELING ON THE BEACH TO FIRE ") 
FIRST ADVANCE OF COMPANY I OF THE COLORADO REGI- }- 

MENT THROUGH THE GRASS J 

SPANISH SOLDIERS ON BALCONY OF BARRICADED HOUSE . 

IN THE TRENCHES 

WHITE HOUSE IN THE AMERICAN LINES, NEAR MAYTUBIG, 

USED BY GENERAL GREENE AS HEADQUARTERS ON 

THE DAY OF THE CAPTURE OF MANILA 

ARTHUR MACARTHUR 

A KITCHEN IN AN INSURGENT CAMP 

ASTOR BATTERY GOING TO THE FRONT 

WATER BUFFALO DRAGGING GUNS OF THE UTAH BAT- "] 

TERY INTO POSITION J 

COLORADO TROOPS REPELLING SPANISH ATTACK FROM j 

DESERTED SPANISH TRENCHES j 

IN THE AMERICAN TRENCHES — AWAITING THE WORD TO ^ 

FIRE 

AMERICAN FLAG RAISED BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MC- j 

COY, FIRST COLORADO VOLUNTEERS 

THE LUNETA, MANILA 

THE GUN WHICH DESTROYED SPANISH BLOCK-HOUSE NO. 14 
BARRICADED HOUSE BEYOND SINGALONG, TOWARDS WHICH 

THE ASTOR BATTERY CHARGED 

GENERAL FRANCIS V. GREENE AT BLOCK-HOUSE 14 AFTER 

THE SURRENDER . . 

PUERTA SANTA LUCIA 

INSURGENT TROOPS IN SUBURBS OF MANILA 

OUR TROOPS MARCHING INTO MANILA 

GROUP OF AMERICAN OFFICERS BEFORE THE PUERTA REAL 

ON THE DAY OF THE SURRENDER OF MANILA . . . 

THE PRISON, MANILA 

AN INDIAN RESIDENCE, BOHOL 

x 



Facing p. 86 

88 
90 
98 



106 
108 



110 
126 

128 
130 

136 



142 

148 
152 

154 

156 
158 
160 
164 

168 
178 
182 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

WOMEN OF A CASCO WASHING CLOTHES IN THE BAY . . Facing p. I90 
OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE 

PHILIPPINES, FRONTING ON THE PASIG RIVER ... " 200 
GENERAL MACARTHUR AND GENERAL HALE IN CARRIAGES *] 

CONSULTING WITH INSURGENT CHIEFS .... I " 2IO 
INSURGENTS DRAWN UP IN COMPANY FORMATION . . J 

ELWELL S. OTIS . " 228 

TYPE OF FILIPINO WOMAN " 240 

AGUINALDO " 258 



Expedition to the Philippines 



CHAPTER I 



Comparatively few persons had more than a very hazy- 
idea as to the geographical position of the Philippines until 
the exhilarating news of Dewey's victory brought out the 
atlases. Manila was a familiar enough name. It suggested" 
a short, thick cheroot over which there was a continual dis- \ 
cussion as to which end it was proper to light, and was in- 
timately connected with coils of bright yellow rope seen in_> 
every cordage shop. But the geographical position of this 
busy capital and of the group of islands of which it is the 
metropolis was about as vague in most minds as the situa- 
tion of the last discovered irrigation area in Mars. The 
literature concerning the islands was phenomenally scarce, 
at least the literature in English. Only one book with any 
claim to thoroughness had been published in this language 
for many years, and this was not readily obtained because 
it had not found an extensive circulation. The reading pub- 
lic in the United States had more or less knowledge of the 
Hawaiian islands and of both Micronesia and Polynesia, 
first through the labors of the missionaries and more recently 
through the writings of Melville, Stevenson, Stoddard and 
others who have found a grateful stimulus to the imagination 
in these tropical islands. The Philippines, however, re- 
mained outside the kodak zone. 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The mystery surrounding this reported paradise was natu- 
rally, a very strong element of atraction for adventurous 
spirits, and when the expedition of occupation and conquest 
was decided upon by the authorities at Washington, there was 
a scramble all over the country for an opportunity to join in 
the crusade. What was to come to pass in the West Indies 
could be foretold with comparative accuracy, but who could 
prophesy what adventures would befall an expedition to the 
antipodes where Spain, although crippled by the loss of her 
fleet, would probably make a heroic effort to preserve this 
lucrative colony? There was an irresistible fascination in 
this long voyage across the Pacific to the palm-draped isl- 
ands where naked savages still live in primitive barbarism; 
to those pleasant lands of constant summer where the fabu- 
lous wealth of minerals and rare products of the soil have 
so long tempted enterprising traders to venture their lives 
on the chance of profitable barter or possible booty. The 
glamour of ancient Spanish power still lingered in this dis- 
tant archipelago and there still remained, scarcely touched by 
the levelling forces of modern civilization or transformed by 
the lapse of time, the picturesque life of the tropical East as 
described by the sturdy explorers of Queen Elizabeth's days 
and which has furnished material for libraries of fiction to 
unsettle the minds of generations of schoolboys with dreams 
of Malay pirates and all the melodrama of adventurous life 
on the high seas. It was certainly no mean experience to 
take part in the first foreign expedition of the great Repub- 
lic, to witness the very beginning of the inevitable expan- 
sion following an unbroken period of consistent isolation. It 
was to be a history-making event, the first act in the great 
international drama to be played on the broad stage where 
the great powers of the world are in active competition for 
supremacy. Who with a drop of red blood in his veins 
could fail to be tempted by this prospect? 

We were ordered to be on board the Newport at the Pacific 

2 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Mail wharf in San Francisco not later than nine o'clock on 
June 29, and although I had made a hurried trip across the 
Atlantic and the continent in twelve days, I was as "jour- 
ney proud" as a schoolboy that morning, impatient to see 
the troops, the ship, and to establish myself on board. Al- 
though General Merritt, whom I met at breakfast, assured 
me the sailing hour was fixed at ten, I could not linger about 
the hotel but was off" long before nine with no eye for the 
boasted glories of the great town, scarcely noticing the morn- 
ing throng of hurrying citizens. The sailing of five trans- 
ports which, with the Newport, composed the third expedi- 
tion, had been the occasion of a great popular demonstration 
two days before, and the edge of the public enthusiasm was 
therefore somewhat dulled. Still, the departure of the Gov- 
ernor-General of the Philippines with his personal staff, his 
corps and his departmental staff, was the climax of a series 
of dramatic incidents, and as such called together at the 
water-front a goodly number of spectators. Near the en- 
trance of the wharf I saw my first soldiers, part of the Third 
Regular Heavy Artillery, looking as brown and hardy as if 
they had already been through a campaign. They had not 
yet adopted the tan-colored linen uniform which afterwards 
gave them a startling resemblance to the butternut-clad Con- 
federates, but wore the dark-blue flannel shirt, faded to a 
variety of unpleasant colors, dark trousers and the campaign 
slouch hats moulded by use into characteristic individual 
shapes, alike in color and in general proportions but as dif- 
ferent in outline as the features of the wearer shaded by the 
broad brim. Fringed around the street corners, sitting in 
rows on the curbstone, jostling and crowding at the saloon 
doors, they were as high-spirited, sturdy a lot of men as ever 
carried rifles and looked fit to conquer the world. Under 
the long dock-shed a shrieking locomotive rambled back and 
forth between piles of miscellaneous commissary stores and 
mountains of cases fresh from Chinese ports. 

3 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The promenade-deck of the steamer was covered with 
civilians with a fair sprinkling of officers in trim, dark uni- 
forms, bearing various strange insignia on their collars which 
would require careful explanation to interpret and considera- 
ble study to memorize, and the main deck rail was lined with 
the rank and file who had already received assignments of 
quarters on board. Up and down the steep gangplank 
flowed a constant stream of women and children with pa- 
triotic decorations, messenger boys carrying bouquets and 
parcels, and a mixture of civilians and officers all looking 
hurried and anxious. Emotional women, already tearful in 
anticipation of the imminent parting with friends or rela- 
tives, gathered in sympathetic groups at the edge of the 
wharf, keeping up a spasmodic interchange of greetings 
with those on board, mostly consisting of a repetition of the 
one phrase : "Be sure and take care of yourself !" Steve- 
dores, with the choicest vocabularies of quaint oaths, wres- 
tled with piles of officers' baggage and belated consignments 
of stores. 

Purposeless sentinels paced up and down with important 
solemnity, looking well the part they were supposed to play 
but having nothing and nobody to guard. It was evident 
from the voluble orders which were given on all sides with 
increasing energy as the time passed, that General Merritt 
was sure to be prompt to the moment and the men were 
soon marched in from the street and anxious non-commis- 
sioned officers scoured the neighborhood to corral the strag- 
glers. Not a man would have missed the boat for a fortune, 
and one by one they came hurrying in, greeted by the jeers 
of their comrades already on board, until at last the only 
soldier on the wharf was a vigilant sergeant on the lookout 
for the very last private of all who finally did turn up, hot 
and flurried and shamefaced, and who sneaked aboard in 
.temporary disgrace. The women tossed rolled-up flags and 
bunches of flowers into the outstretched hands far above 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

them and volleys of brass buttons for souvenirs were re- 
turned in exchange. 

It was a carnival of laughter and chaff and tears. Now 
the men began to climb the rigging and swarm up the top- 
masts even to the insecure seat on the narrow area of the 
truck, and worked off their exuberant energy in yells and 
shouts, rising and falling in volume and then bursting forth 
in a grand cheer in unison as a small party of officers, headed 
by General Merritt, easily recognized by everybody, came up 
the gangplank precisely on the stroke of ten. In a moment 
or two the first throb of the engine was felt and the Newport 
slowly moved away in that indescribable confusion of 
shouts, cheers, whistles and screeches which only an Ameri- 
can crowd can produce. As the steamer rounded away from 
the wharf, a swarm of tugs and yachts gay with flags and 
bright costumes and each with a battery of kodaks, dashed 
after her to catch a parting word or to secure a final snap- 
shot. The thousands of people blackening the wharf ends 
all along the water front, gave a long continued cheer ; steam 
whistles and military bands competed noisily on every side 
and the dull roar of cannon came echoing up from the lower 
bay. The fastest of our escort was soon distanced and we 
were fairly away on our long voyage. 

It was a brilliant, sparkling summer day and the long, 
glassy swell of the Pacific, meeting the shallows at the bar, 
looked pleasant and harmless as we approached. The first 
plunge of the bows and the general disturbance of equilib- 
rium were a new sensation to most of those on board, for 
comparatively few had ever made a sea voyage, and many, 
indeed, had never seen salt water until they came to San 
Francisco. A few moments of this disturbing motion was 
enough to send a goodly proportion of the men below 
and to distract their thoughts from the recent farewells to 
the activo considerations of personal discomfort. The initia- 
tion to regular sea life was sudden but prolonged, for al- 

5 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

most before the bar was crossed and while the smoke of the 
saluting cannon was still drifting across the bay, a thin mist, 
like the haze of Indian summer, imperceptibly stole out of 
the West, softened the outlines of the grand headlands of the 
Golden Horn and veiled from our sight the rugged masses 
of the rocky islands near the line of our course. The tem- 
perature dropped rapidly, a breeze sprang up from the 
Northwest, freshening rapidly with vicious gusts, and soon 
developed into the strength of a gale. We pitched and tossed 
awhile, and, before we lost sight of land, the captain was 
obliged, for the safety of the ship, to alter her course and to 
put her head to the gale, under just enough steam to keep 
steerageway. For seventeen long hours we wallowed and 
tumbled and drifted to the southward, scarcely making 
enough westing to swear by. The pomp of military display 
had begun to vanish with the first tos sings at the bar, but 
when the storm really struck us in earnest, there was no more 
semblance of discipline on the ship, among the soldiers of 
course, than on a crowded passenger boat on a rough excur- 
sion to the fishing grounds. The general hilarity caused by 
,the woful plight of those who earliest felt the result of the 
motion rapidly degenerated to chaff of no agreeable strain, 
and at last even the voice of the Irish humorist was silent. 
He first raised a laugh as he came aboard and saw the an- 
chor over the bow by asking : 

"Who in the devil is a goin' to swing that big pick ?" and 
he mercilessly ridiculed the "green-faced landlubbers" as 
they staggered away to their bunks, confident that his trip 
from Queenstown had seasoned him beyond fear of the com- 
mon malady. His voice, at first sonorous and cheery and 
flavored with characteristic Hibernian humoristic quality, 
soon lost its charm, however, became forced and raucous, 
and was finally only audible in a feeble attempt to repeat the 
stale distortion : "Water, water everywhere and not a drop 
of whisky to drink." Then he, too, curled himself up in 

6 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the lee of the bulwarks thoroughly drenched and totally 
collapsed. Sentinels had been posted at different parts 
of the promenade deck, partly for grandeur perhaps, 
and partly to regulate the movements of the men and 
to keep a small area free for the use of General Merritt 
and his staff. The necessity for these sentinels ceased, of 
course, when the decks were empty, but the officer whose 
duty it was to order the men below was probably too much 
occupied with his personal sensations to think of the men on 
guard. One by one the stalwart fellows grew paler and 
paler, and then, limp and dejected, without so much as call- 
ing for the corporal of the guard, staggered to their bunks, 
dragging their rifles after them in a most unmilitary style. 
One wiry youth on the weather side kept his post long 
after the others had retreated and, unable to pace the slippery 
deck, leaned against the engine room bulkhead and kept up 
a show of performing his duty, although he was too misera- 
ble to dodge the frequent showers of spray. The officer of 
the day took this moment to make his rounds and, approach- 
ing the sentinel, asked : 

"Where is your post ?" 

"Here at this corner, sir !" 

"How many of you are on guard ?" 

"Twenty-one, I believe, sir." 

"Where are the others?" 

"I'm the only one left, sir/'' 

And this brief conversation was too much for him. 
Scarcely had he made answer before he staggered away 
without so much as "by your leave," and the officer of the 
day had the deck to himself and was free to meditate on the 
possibility of the Army Regulations providing for the duties 
of an officer in irregular conditions met with on an ocean 
transport. 

Rank had no special privileges on this occasion, and in a 
few minutes the "Social Hall" belied its name, for only a 

? 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

small proportion of officers, General Merritt among the num- 
her, remained to uphold the dignity of their commissions. 
Perhaps it is as well to leave to the imagination the scenes 
on the Newport during the raging of the storm, certainly it 
would be unwise to chronicle the expletives which this record 
surprise of the Pacific wrenched from the pallid lips of those 
whose pleasant anticipations of a trip across summer seas 
had thus been rudely shattered. 

Those of us who were proof against the prostrating illness 
had an excellent opportunity of making one another's ac- 
quaintance and of settling ourselves for the voyage. 

The Newport is a steamer of 2200 tons measurement, with 
a horse power of approximately the same figure, and a maxi- 
mum speed of fourteen knots. She was built for the run to 
the West Indies and consequently is well adapted in most 
ways for service in the tropics. In less than a week after 
she was chartered by the government as a transport, she was 
thoroughly overhauled, fitted with proper appliances for the 
accommodation of troops and well loaded with ordnance, 
ammunition and miscellaneous stores, including three 
months' provisions for the number of men she was supposed 
to carry. She has electric lights, an ice machine which would 
produce about 300 pounds a day, a distilling apparatus for 
drinking water and cold storage rooms of large capacity. 
The promenade deck is occupied by the Social Hall, a large 
number of staterooms, the cabins of the ship's officers and 
the wheelhouse. On the main deck are more staterooms, 
bath rooms, the dining-saloon, the galleys and the usual ad- 
juncts. The cooking for the troops and the serving out of 
the rations were all done on the forward part of this deck. 
Temporary staircases had been built in the forward hatch 
and in two small hatches astern leading from the promenade 
deck to the cargo deck where the troops were quartered. 
The engine-room bulkhead alone broke this great area, and 
broad passages on either side of this obstruction gave plenty 

8 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

of air and afforded easy circulation. Ten fore and aft rows 
of three-tier wooden bunks extended from the engine space 
to bow and stern with a passageway between every pair, and 
each bunk was provided with a woven wire spring and a 
straw mattress. The lighting left something to be desired, 
but the ventilation was as good as could be and the tempera- 
ture was usually a degree or two lower than in the saloon. 
The first sight of the great crowded lower deck, with every 
corner filled either by a soldier or by some of his impedi- 
menta, and with bunk after bunk vanishing into the dim per- 
spective, gave me a sense of oppression, and it was not easy 
to recover from the feeling that it must be hot and stuffy and 
generally disagreeable in this burrow of human beings. But 
frequent visits soon broke up this illusion, and I came to re- 
gard it as quite as comfortable as any place on the ship, cer- 
tainly better ventilated than the steerage on the trans-Atlan- 
tic ships and with far more luxurious sleeping accommoda- 
tions. Having been in the ranks myself, and also in the 
steerage, come to that, I had little sympathy with those nov- 
ices who so knowingly condemned their quarters as "the 
worst ever provided for Christians," and the record of the 
voyage, which was remarkable for the excellent health of the 
men, proved that there was not much wrong with the trans- 
port. There were some great defects in the accommoda- 
tions, notably the absence of mess-room and the inadequate 
capacity of the galleys and cramped space for the distribu- 
tion of rations. It often took two or three hours to serve a 
meal, and when the men finally got their rations they had no 
place in which to sit in comfort and were obliged to perch 
and balance wherever they could, so that eating was often 
a ludicrous approach to jugglery. 

General Merritt, with characteristic regard for the com- 
fort of his men, had given instructions to allow them the free 
use of the decks, reserving for himself and officers only a 
small space between two deckhouses. This freedom more 

9 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

than compensated for the discomforts, and as there were no 
restrictions to circulation, day or night, and none of the ordi- 
nary troopship rules about remaining in quarters were en- 
forced, the promenade deck and the tops of all the deck- 
houses were populous by day and were covered by night with 
prostrate forms. Without counting the ship's company, the 
total number on board the Newport, including the officers, 
did not exceed six hundred, for there were only the Astor 
Battery, in round numbers one hundred strong, and batteries 
H and K of the Third Regular Heavy Artillery, practically 
counting two hundred each. Although the ship carried more 
than would be allowed by the British regulation, which limits 
the number of troops on a transport to the number of ham- 
mocks which can be slung between decks, she was far less 
crowded than most of the troopships which crossed the 
Pacific. Still it was difficult to see where another man could 
be stowed away on board. 

In the saloon and the officers' mess there were, besides the 
clerical force, the following officers and civilians: Major- 
General Wesley Merritt and his aids Major Lewis H. Stro- 
ther, Major Harry C. Hale, and Captain T. Bentley Mott. 
The members of the Department Staff, Brigadier-General 
J. B. Babcock, Chief of Staff and Adjutant-General, Major 
S. D. Sturgis, Assistant Adjutant-General, Lieutenant-Col- 
onel C. A. Whittier, Inspector-General, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Enoch H. Crowder, Judge Advocate, Lieutenant-Colonel 
James W. Pope, Chief Quartermaster, Lieutenant-Colonel 
David L. Brainard, Chief Commissary of Subsistence, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lippincott, Deputy Surgeon- 
General and Chief Surgeon, Major Charles McClure, Pay- 
master U. S. Army, Chief Paymaster, Major R. B. C. Be- 
ment, Engineer Officer, Major Richard E. E. Thompson, 
Chief Signal Officer, Major W. A. Simpson, Chief of Ar- 
tillery, Major W. A. Wadsworth, Assistant to Chief Quar- 
termaster, Major Charles E. Woodruff, Attending Surgeon, 




WESLEY MERRITT 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Captain J. M. Cabell, Assistant Surgeon U. S. A. (retired), 
Assistant to Chief Surgeon, Major Charles H. Whipple, 
Paymaster U. S. Army, Major Charles E. Kilbourne, Pay- 
master U. S. Army and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles L. Pot- 
ter of the Corps Staff, Chief Engineer Officer. The officers 
commanding the troops on board were: Captain James 
O'Hara, Captain Charles W. Hobbs, Lieutenant M. G. Kray- 
enbuhl, Lieutenant Lloyd England, and Lieutenant P. M. 
Kessler, all of the Third Regular United States Heavy Ar- 
tillery, and Captain Peyton C. March, Lieutenant C. C. Wil- 
liams and Lieutenant B. M. Koehler of the Astor Battery. 
Father Doherty, Volunteer Chaplain to the Expedition ; Dr. 
G. M. Daywalt, Contract Surgeon; Mr. Murat Halstead, 
Mr. G. W. Peters, illustrator; Mr. Jerome of the Pacific 
Mail Company, and myself, made up the contingent of those 
not entitled to wear the uniform. 

One other uniformed personage must be included in this 
roster, not because he held a government commission, but be- 
cause he was a conspicuous figure on the decks. This was a 
Captain of the Salvation Army. He was not a cheerful in- 
dividual, but was always in evidence. When the men were 
miserable, his red-trimmed cap seemed to have an extra de- 
jected droop and when there was any fun going, he stood 
apart and gazed sadly at the mirthmakers. Just how he ex- 
pected to continue his authority in this crowd of worldly in- 
clined adventurers, one could scarcely imagine, and I fancy 
he made little progress in his enlistments. 

It was a good forty-eight hours before the Pacific which 
belied its name with vicious persistency, had settled down to 
anything like a reasonable condition of quiet. As the sea 
gradually subsided, the sick crawled out of the hatchways 
like half-drowned badgers, scattered over the decks and be- 
gan to feel again that life was worth living and when, on the 
morning of the third day, the ocean unfolded its great violet 
expanse under the softest of summer skies, giving full prom- 

ii 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ise of lasting sunshine, the effervescent spirits of the men 
bubbled up with fresh vigor, and cheeriness and hilarity be- 
gan to rule again. Under the harmonizing influence of 
hardships and suffering common to all, the men rapidly fra- 
ternized, and regulars and volunteers began to live in peace 
together. Although the Third Artillery was a regular or- 
ganization, there was only a moderate leaven of old soldiers 
in its ranks, for the two batteries had been recruited up from 
their peace quota of sixty odd men to their full war footing 
of two hundred. The recruits were all picked men, excep- 
tionally fine specimens of robust manhood, and most of 
them of superior intelligence. The Astor Battery, or the 
Asteroids as they were called popularly, were at first, per- 
haps, a little out of gear with their shipmates, chiefly on 
account of the reputation they had acquired in San Fran- 
cisco, where the press had chosen to resent their proper dis- 
play of strict discipline and took pains to interpret it as an 
indication of assumption of social superiority. The roll of 
the battery numbered a goodly proportion of men who had 
seen active service in other countries and a notable list of 
college graduates, mostly athletes of some reputation. 

When the Pacific ocean goes in for the business of charm- 
ing those who trust themselves on her ever-heaving bosom, 
she is irresistible. The gender of this great natural division 
of the waters of the earth, I am aware, is commonly held to 
be masculine, but after my experience with the temperament 
of this ocean, I can never think of it except in the feminine 
gender, and to speak of it as "he" is to contradict all the sen- 
timent which my brief intimacy has initiated and developed. 
In her friendly moods she is caressing and gentle beyond 
description; her songs are sweeter than a lullaby and her 
smiles are doubly fascinating because they reflect all the 
soft and tender charms of the high-arched sky, intensifying 
the choice and delicate tones which vibrate in the wonderful 
atmosphere. By her subtle graces she bewitches the traveller 

12 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

into perfect confidence that her face will never darken with a 
frown, and, enchanted by her soothing influences, he lives 
for the day only, for the joy of life steals into his heart and 
holds full sway there. 

Thus, after her temper had passed, did she charm and be- 
witch us all with her glorious, unbroken shimmering ex- 
panse, inviting us onward to a distant, mysterious horizon 
where the summer clouds gathered in ranks and seemed to 
hide the expected land. The recent woes were forgotten, 
the future looked bright and hopeful, and, amid all the para- 
phernalia of war, the gentle spirit of peace pervaded the 
ship. Songs were heard on every side and from the roofs 
of the deckhouses, where kindred spirits had pre-empted an 
airy habitation among the spars and life-rafts, the tinkle of 
the mandolin and the strum of the banjo came floating down- 
ward far into the night — a night so beautiful that it were a 
sin to sleep — and the contented hum of voices never ceased. 

The Fourth of July came while we were in the keen 
'flush of enjoyment of the soft air and the soothing, gentle 
motion of the water. We welcomed this anniversary as all 
good patriots do and felt that it had a peculiar significance 
to us, representing as we did the might and dignity of the 
great Republic on the great waste of the Pacific and carry- 
ing there for the first time in history the Stars and Stripes 
on a military expedition. This thought and the desirability 
of providing some suitable decoration for the celebration of 
the day set us to look up the flags. We found to our dismay 
that we were shorter of bunting than of anything else and 
not a flag could be turned out except those belonging to the 
ship, which, of course, we borrowed promptly. In matter of 
fact, we actually did not fly the national emblem but perforce 
reserved it to lend that patriotic air to our place of assembly 
which is so stimulating to the Independence day orator. 
Later at Manila, this dearth of flags was even more to be 
regretted for the natives, who display the insurgents' flag in 

i3 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

great profusion, could not comprehend our apparent indif- 
ference to the symbol of freedom which was conspicuous by 
its very rarity. 

The committee that took charge of the celebration wisely 
decided that it was best to get over all the formal ceremonies 
as early as possible in the day and therefore we assembled 
under the awning between the deckhouses at half past eleven 
in the forenoon where brief exercises were conducted for the 
benefit of all on board, this being as public a place as there 
was on the ship and so situated that probably half of the men 
could see and hear. It was a strange and peculiarly impres- 
sive spectacle. Around the little knot of officers the rank and 
file stood in a compact mass reaching to the rail on either 
side where others perched in a solid line. The openings in 
the awning above were filled with heads and everyone was 
intent on hearing every word that was said. Never shall I 
forget the keen, earnest look of the men as they listened to 
the familiar words of the Declaration of Independence nor 
can I ever lose the echo of that swelling chorus of sturdy, 
masculine voices which rang out with such inspiriting vigor. 
In the saloon, which was made as gay as possible with the 
limited number of flags at our command, the luncheon as- 
sumed as much of the character of a banquet as could be con- 
trived from the combined resources of the ship's larder, the 
commissary stores, and private supplies of wet and dry luxu- 
ries. It differed from any other similar celebration I ever 
attended, inasmuch as the decorations were the Stars and 
Stripes and the Union Jack in combination, and the senti- 
ments of loyal respect for Great Britain and of confidence in 
the stability of the friendly relations existing between the 
two countries were expressed by several of those who re- 
sponded to the toasts and applauded with genuine good-will 
by the entire company. The programme of the day was as 
follows : 



14 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPINES 

Exercises on the Deck. 

1. Prayer — Chaplain Doherty. 

2. "Star-Spangled Banner" — Astor Battery Glee Club. 

3. Declaration of Independence — Major C. H. Whipple. 

4. "America" — Astor Battery Glee Club. 

5. Oration — Chaplain Doherty. 

6. "Red, White and Blue"— Astor Battery Glee Club. 

Exercises at Luncheon — Toasts and Responses. 

1. Our Country and Our President — Major-General Wes- 
ley Merritt. 

2. Nations Friendly to Us and the Queen of England — F. 
D. Millet. 

3. Our General Commanding the Army of the Philip- 
pines — Colonel McClure. 

4. A Modern Crusade — General Babcock. 

5. The Day We Celebrate — Mr. Murat Halstead. 

6. The Girls We Left Behind Us — General Whittier. 

7. The Army and the Navy — Colonel Crowder. 

8. Our Good Ship Newport and Her Gallant Captain and 
Crew — Captain Saunders. 

Unfortunately Mr. Halstead was seized by an illness 
which prevented him from taking part in the celebration and 
which, to our great regret, obliged him to part company with 
us at Honolulu so we had but a brief enjoyment of his so- 
ciety. 

Our ship was now making about 325 miles a day and we 
did not feel quite settled on board — first, because we were 
looking forward to a call at Honolulu, and second, because 
we did not know how we should proceed after we left that 
port. The news of the arrival of Camara's fleet at Port Said 
reached us just before we left San Francisco and the antici- 
pation of a trip to the Philippines at the speed of one of the 
monitors which we thought might be necessary as a convoy, 
was scarcely agreeable. It was on the books also that orders 
might reach us at Honolulu by the mail boat from Vancouver 
to await further developments before continuing our jour- 
ney. Thus, as we neared the Hawaiian Islands we began 

*5 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

to speculate more and more on what the immediate future 
might have in store for us and our impatience increased as 
we were able to count the hours before we should see land. 

In the midst of this ferment of spirit, while we were at 
luncheon, the monotonous vibration of the ship suddenly 
ceased and the sound of the water against the ship's side, 
hitherto inaudible on account of the confusion of noises 
caused by the machinery, came in the open ports like the 
lapping of the wavelets on a quiet beach. The captain and 
the engineer left the table, trying their best to look uncon- 
cerned, and we gazed at one another and said a few things. 
The report soon came that the spindle of the condenser was 
fractured and that we should have to wait until a spare one 
could be put in place. The men were very hilarious over 
their new clothes which had been served out to them as the 
weather grew warmer and indeed they looked as if they had 
raided a ready-made-clothing store and had not been par- 
ticular about trying on the garments, and now that the ship 
was quiet we realized how intimately we were living to- 
gether, for a hearty laugh could be heard from bow to stern. 
Some one discovered sharks swimming about the ship and 
an ingenious private soon produced an improvised hook with 
a large piece of Uncle Sam's beef attached which he dropped 
into the water with the remark : "The bait'll kill him with 
indigestion if I don't catch him with the hook." In a min- 
ute, however, he had his victim and a score of eager assist- 
ants had the wriggling, flapping monster up to the level of 
the rail with a run. 

The excitement was intense, the fishermen pulled so hard 
they broke the rope and with a tremendous splash the shark 
disappeared. Three times this game was repeated with the 
same result, each catch and each successive catastrophe rais- 
ing a din of cheers and groans from the spectators that made 
the ship tremble. Thus the afternoon wore away as we gen- 
tly rolled on the glassy sea without a turn of the screw. 

16 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

In the early evening, six or seven hours after the break- 
down, we were off again and we slept that night in expecta- 
tion of landing before dark the next day. But the loss of 
time was not to be made good so easily and no sign of land 
rewarded our eager search until just at sunset on the 6th, at 
the moment when the horizon was tinged with ruddy purple 
and the ocean was sparkling with iridescent lights, we saw 
the bold mass of the island of Molokai away to the south- 
west as a translucent screen on the tropical haze. As the 
stars came out and Venus, shining with extraordinary brill- 
iancy, showed us the road to the enchanted islands, rigid 
mountain forms began to appear in the distance and, before 
midnight, the breath of the land, almost too heavy with per- 
fume, sweetened the stale atmosphere of the crowded ship 
and we dreamed of nodding palms and glittering sands and 
turquoise waters. 

Some time in the night the ship stopped, but as soon as 
it was dawn she again started and rapidly approached the 
harbor of Honolulu. The beautiful line of towering hills 
covered with verdure, the tossing waters of the bay, break- 
ing in a line of white foam on the shallow bar, the distant 
city scattered wide among the trees, and the tangle of masts 
and funnels of the shipping, spread out before us in a grand 
panorama as we neared the shore. We picked up a pilot and 
soon were anchored in the crowd of transports, colliers and 
craft of all varieties which filled the little harbor. The huge, 
grim monitor Monadnock with her attendant collier scarcely 
less bald and forbidding than herself, lay with scarcely a sign 
of life aboard, suggesting that something more startling than 
a rumor of a distant conflict might be needed to wake this 
sleepy leviathan from her lethargy, but the five other 
transports of our expedition which had sailed from San 
Francisco on June 27 under command of General Mac- 
Arthur, the Indiana, Ohio, Valencia, Morgan City and City 
of Para, were as busy as ants' nests with their swarming 
2 17 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

multitudes, each of them devouring coal from clustering 
lighters. 

The traveller is sure to feel a mild sense of disappoint- 
ment on landing at Honolulu, for the commercial activity 
of the past few years has given the town a cosmopolitan as- 
pect which destroys the distinctive character of the place, 
a transformation which excites the fear that the peculiar 
charm of the islands will soon vanish entirely under the lev- 
elling influence of modern progress. When a glaring sign, 
"The Silent Barber," meets the eye in a row of shops as near 
as can be like a block in San Francisco, it opens up a vista of 
all sorts of unlovely improvements. We did not see Hono- 
lulu in her normal state of drowsy quiet, for we landed at a 
time when the town was in a fever of patriotic emotion and 
when, moreover, annexation was in the air and there was a 
feeling of unrest and uncertainty among the people which 
could scarcely be disguised. The streets, too, were filled 
with the soldiers of our expedition, most of them wearing 
the fragrant wreaths with which the hospitable islanders 
decorate themselves and their friends on festal occasions, 
and many with silk badges bearing the words "Aloha nui to 
Our Boys in Blue." The bustle of the streets was quite ab- 
normal, of course, and the general holiday air had an exotic 
flavor about it which was gratifying, inasmuch as it catered 
to our patriotism, but it was impossible not to feel that we 
were missing the real charm of the place. Nothing, how- 
ever, can disturb to a serious degree the unique fascination 
of nature in this favored spot and the enchanting landscape, 
the luxuriant beauty of the tropical growth and the marvel- 
lous colors of sea and land absorbed our attention and made 
us forget war and politics and all the attendant train of evils. 

It is impossible to gain much knowledge of a people on a 
brief visit like ours and particularly in such unusual circum- 
stances, but neither a special training as a physiognomist nor 
a long residence among the islanders is necessary to induce 

18 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the impression that they are gentle and lovable creatures 
with fewer irritating faults than most natives who have suf- 
fered from contact with civilization. We did not have much 
time to pursue the interesting study of the type, for there 
were formal visits to be made, presentations to the dignita- 
ries of the Republic and various other little ceremonies which 
occupied much of the precious daylight, but still gave us an 
opportunity of seeing a considerable part of the town and 
the suburbs as far as the residences of the Princess Kaiulani 
and of Minister Sewall at Waikiki. 

Everything was thrown open to the soldiers who wan- 
dered about in friendly intimacy with the natives, lay in the 
shade of the trees in the pleasant gardens of the bungalows 
or gathered in the palace grounds where the hospitable citi- 
zens gave to each detachment a gala dinner, a mixture of 
New England and Hawaiian edibles where doughnuts and 
pineapples, pies and alligator pears, gingerbread and ba- 
nanas disappeared by the ton and the sagging tables were 
soon lightened of their burden by the attack of hundreds of 
stalwart and hearty soldiers. Mrs: Dole, the wife of the 
President, supported by several women friends, held an open 
air reception under the trees after the dinner and an excel- 
lent band entertained the great crowd with instrumental mu- 
sic and songs. The writing room of the palace was open to 
every man in uniform and stationery and postage stamps 
were provided without charge, a refinement of hospitality 
which was gratefully appreciated by the men. Some idea 
may be had of the use which was made of this privilege 
by the fact that the postage stamp bill for the first and sec- 
ond expeditions was more than five hundred dollars. Alto- 
gether soldiering seemed to be not such a bad game after all 
and the visit to Honolulu was remarkable for many things, 
not the least of which was the remarkable behavior of the sol- 
diers who were orderly and quiet to a degree by no means 
anticipated by the police authorities nor even by their com- 

*9 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

manding officers. The Marshal of the islands told me as we 
were leaving that he had not been obliged to arrest a single 
individual wearing the uniform of the United States nor 
had he learned of a single disturbance worthy of report. 
First of all the majority of the men were self-respecting and 
understood what a disgraceful breach of hospitality it would 
have been for them to disturb the peace, secondly, the riot- 
ously inclined element was kept in check by the more sober- 
minded who felt that they were all on show, so to speak, and 
were therefore bound to make a good record. 

I heard a sergeant giving his orders to a large squad about 
to go ashore from the Newport. "Look a here, you fellows/' 
he said, "you've got to put on your brown suits and leggins 
and have everything in the best order, for you're going 
ashore for the day. And I want you to understand if any 
dunderheaded galoot goes and gets a jag on we'll run him 
aboard and lock him up before he knows where he's at." 

There was no one in that squad who earned that sonorous 
and dishonorable title. Several of us who accompanied Gen- 
eral Merritt ashore took rooms at the hotel, glad enough to 
exchange the small boxes of staterooms with the swarms of 
mosquitoes for the clean and airy rooms among the palms 
and to break the monotony of the steamer's fare by a brief 
dalliance with the fresh and appetizing menu of the Pacific 
Club. Those who were not over-wearied by the succession 
of novel experiences of the day, attended a poi feast at the 
house of an artist friend where we sat on the floor until all 
our joints gave painful warning of dislocation and ate poi 
with our fingers in the most approved fashion. Soon, under 
the spell of the hour, the place and the delightful company, 
we heartily and sincerely wished annexation and the Republic 
further away, chiefly, it must be confessed, out of sympathy 
with the charming Princess Kaiulani who with several other 
Hawaiian beauties made even the eating of poi seem a grace- 



20 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ful and ladylike operation.* The first cool breath of morning 
was in the air before we called a finish of the dance, and as 
we strolled home through the perfumed freshness of early 
dawn, the tinkle of a distant guitar came to us on the gentle 
breeze and the faint sounds of merriment which accented 
rather than disturbed the grateful peace of the night. 

At sunrise General Merritt was up and off to the dock to 
learn when the coaling of the Newport would be completed 
and we shortly had the news, at the same time welcome and 
disappointing, that we were expected to be on board at 
eleven in the morning. A farewell glance at the beauties of 
Waikiki, we rushed down to the coal begrimed wharf and 
joined the wreath-bedecked throng on the deck of the New- 
port. Officers and men were fairly smothered in garlands of 
flowers and great baskets of fragrant wreaths almost vitiated 
the air of the saloon with their strong perfume. Mars made 
prisoner by Venus and Flora had little of the fierce aspect of 
a warrior about him, but had a jovial and festive air and ap- 
peared to take kindly to this pleasant custom of new friends 
which gave a typical Hawaiian flavor to the farewell to this 
tropical Capua. 



* Since writing this I have read a newspaper paragraph announc 
ing the death, on March 6th, of the Princess Kaiulani. Having first 
known her when she was a very young girl, our meeting at Honolulu 
was an unexpected revival of our acquaintance, which gave me the 
greatest pleasure, for she was a young woman of rare qualities of 
mind and of great personal charm. She was, naturally, much de- 
pressed over the foreign usurpation of the rights of the islanders and 
was quite hopeless about the future of the Hawaiian race. 



CHAPTER II 

At midday the steamer pulled away from the wharf when 
hundreds of citizens, of whom a notable proportion were 
women, waved adieu with shouts of "Aloha!" "Aloha!" and, 
escorted by a steamer with the Hawaiian band rapidly 
steamed to the southward where the other transports of our 
expedition lay waiting for the Newport. When we came 
near it was found that one of them had broken down so that 
the fleet, which was under orders to proceed together, could 
not sail for several hours. There was a diligent interchange 
of signals, and for an hour or more we were all in a state 
of anxiety as to our movements. 

The situation was this : . The mail via Vancouver had 
brought the news that Camara's fleet had begun to pass 
through the Suez Canal, and, if his ships sailed directly for 
the Philippines, as was doubtless the plan, it was a question 
whether we could reach Manila bay without being inter- 
cepted by one of the Spanish fast cruisers. The Newport 
with the commander-in-chief, his staff and five hundred sol- 
diers on board, with nearly a million and a half dollars in 
cash and a valuable cargo of ammunition and ordnance was 
a rich and tempting prize and one which the enemy would 
doubtless make a desperate attempt to secure. If we fol- 
lowed the route of the second expedition under command of 
General Greene, which left Honolulu a few days before we 
arrived, we should probably pick up the monitor Monterey 
either at Guam or not far beyond that island, and have her 
as a convoy. On the other hand, if we adopted this plan of 
advance we should have to regulate the speed of our fleet to 
the rate of the monitor which was currently reported to be 

22 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

only five or six knots an hour and would arrive at Manila 
ten days or more later than we would if we ran at our full 
speed. Admiral Dewey had orders from Washington to 
meet us, in case of emergency, with a gunboat or a cruiser, 
somewhere on a direct line between Cape Engano, the north- 
easterly headland of the island of Luzon, and a point on the 
Pacific six hundred miles due east, so that the choice lay 
between taking the risk of possible capture and the slow but 
comparatively safe plan of securing the convoy of the moni- 
tor. The alternative routes plotted roughly in a diagram 
which we studied with care showed considerable saving in 
distance in taking a direct course by way of the Farallon 
de Pajaros, the most northerly island of the Ladrones, and 
we, who had no responsibility, emphatically argued in favor 
of this route. 

General Merritt, recognizing the fact that war meant tak- 
ing risks, and conscious of the necessity of his presence at 
Manila, was not long in deciding on independent grounds 
that it was best to leave the fleet to make its way on the regu- 
lar route via Guam and to hasten on to Manila himself as fast 
as the Newport could carry him. He consequently directed 
Captain Saunders to lay the ship's course as straight as pos- 
sible for the six-hundred-mile point. There was a sporting 
element in this trip which appealed strongly to all of us and 
this decision was welcomed with the greatest satisfaction by 
all on the ship. So off we steamed to our infinite relief and 
to the undoubted envy of those on the other transports and 
soon had them hull down. 

The whole afternoon we sailed along the shores of the 
beautiful island of Oahu which presented a constantly vary- 
ing, ever fascinating succession of bold headlands and pleas- 
ant valleys. Frequent slight showers cooled the air and the 
moist atmosphere gave added richness to the color of the 
vegetation which covered the hillsides with a carpet of brill- 
iant and precious tints. As evening drew on and the violet 

23 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

sea grew more sombre in tone, contrasting with the orange 
hues of the western sky, a stately rank of clouds, like the 
turrets and crenellations of a distant walled city, gathered 
at the horizon and then the stars came out with amazing brill- 
iancy, and Venus reflected in a silver line on the gently rip- 
pling water, beckoned us on toward the mysterious distance. 
A gentle trade wind sprang up directly astern and the even- 
ing air was deliciously soothing without the suspicion of a 
chill. Fatigued with the excitement and emotion of the 
visit to Honolulu, and content that at last the real journey 
was begun in earnest, the noisiest and most turbu- 
lently hilarious of the men ceased to chatter and soon noth- 
ing was heard on the ship except the throb of the engines 
and the swish of the water along the sides. 

We now settled down to regular life on shipboard and 
one day succeeded another all too rapidly, for the weather 
was delightful, the sea smooth and perfect harmony pre- 
vailed in the saloon and between decks. The men began to 
be exercised in setting-up drill daily, inspection was held at 
intervals and the manual of arms practised frequently. There 
was no space large enough for even these elementary items 
of military education to be pursued without considerable 
difficulty and not very much time was devoted to this train- 
ing. 

Those of us who had any knowledge of Spanish began to 
form classes and all over the ship, in the shade of the awn- 
ings and in quiet corners, groups of men were busy half the 
day acquiring the rudiments of the language and commit- 
ting to memory useful phrases the most popular of which 
were those relating to the surrender of an enemy. Captain 
O'Hara of the Third Artillery had spent some years at West 
Point instructing the cadets in modern languages, and there 
were one or two other officers who were proficient in Span- 
ish, therefore the classes in the saloon made effective prog- 
ress and the students soon became fairly confident, and stock 

24 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

questions and replies were exchanged with fluency and with 
a robust if not altogether musical accent. If there existed in 
our mess any musical talent, it never came out on the trip 
and we depended for entertainment of this sort mainly on 
the efforts of the Astor Battery, who gave one or two variety 
performances and started several distortions of popular 
songs which were immensely popular and never ceased to 
amuse. There is almost always to be found in every mili- 
tary organization some one with a talent for rhyming on the 
events of the day, and in the Astor Battery there was a topi- 
cal poet who made a running chronicle of the incidents of 
their trip across the continent, setting the verses to the mu- 
sic of a well known song and celebrated Dewey's victory 
in a few couplets which were shouted out to the tune of 
"The Prodigal Son" until everybody knew them by heart. 
I quote from the first a couple of stanzas to show what ele- 
ments of popularity this musical history of the battery pos- 
sessed : 

" At every country station that we came to, 
There awaited a reporter for an interview, 
He would ask your name and the date of your birth, 
Could you give any reason for your presence on earth ? 
Are both your parents wealthy and how do you feel ? 
Are you a college graduate and do you ride a wheel ? 
You say you're fond of soldiering and he'd ask the reason why — " 

And then was the time to turn him down with this reply : 

" Chorus: — Zum ! We're natural-born soldiers ; 
Zum ! We're natural-born soldiers ; 
Zum ! We're natural-born soldiers ; 
That ain't no lie. 

" Do you eat loose tomatoes with a knife or a fork ? 
You could stand there and starve to death and listen to him talk. 
He'd talk about the gun-mules and never let you pass. 
Till you gave him some pointers on the ammunition ass. 
A reporter came up to me, a crazy galoot, 
And wanted to know if the battery could shoot ; 
I tipped him a wink as I jumped on the cars, 
Said I to him, * My friend, we're a bunch of shooting stars !* 

" Chorus : — Zum ! We're natural-born soldiers, etc." 

25 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

A single verse from the next most popular song will suf- 
fice to show the character of that production : 

" They avenged our boys who were killed on the Maine, 

They did, they did ! 
The Spaniard won't try dirty tricks again ; 

He won't ! he won't ! 
When Dewey sailed into Manila bay, 
A short time ago, on the first of May, 
The Spaniards found it was ' moving day/ 
Sing * Dewey, the king of the seas ' ! " 

It is perhaps worthy of remark that after the action on the 
13th of August, when the battery lost ten per cent, of its 
number, the song, "We're Natural-born Soldiers," was sung 
no more. 

Life in the officers' mess was most unconventional and 
agreeable. The pa jama brigade began the day with a bath 
under the saltwater shower apparatus on the upper deck and 
took off the keen edge of the appetite with fruit and coffee 
and then dressed for the regular breakfast at seven. Lunch- 
eon at one and dinner at six brought us together again and 
we usually spent the evening on the deck under the awning. 
We always went to bed early, because at the first peep of 
dawn we were sure to be awakened by the chatter of the 
men who slept on deck or by the shouts of those who came 
up from below to fill their lungs with morning ozone. Judg- 
ing from the resonance of their voices, this stimulating ele- 
ment of the atmosphere had an immediate effect on the vocal 
organs. This disturbance was sometimes annoying and very 
often failed to appeal to our sense of humor. General Mer- 
ritt, who occupied the smoking room which had been con- 
verted into a very comfortable apartment, was in the vortex 
of the confusion and lost a great deal of sleep in consequence, 
but he was too kind-hearted to interfere with the freedom 
of the men and therefore no vigorous steps were taken to 
suppress this annoyance. 

In a day or two after we left Honolulu, the men settled 
down into their regular places and went through the same 

26 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

performances at the same time. I knew to a moment when 
Rooney would emerge from the hatchway, and could tell to a 
certainty who would begin the chaff with the good-natured 
old soldier. I could almost set my watch by the morning 
visit of the sleek and rotund "Texas," the shark fisherman, 
who stowed himself away by night in a hammock skilfully 
hung in the empty space between the piles of stores and the 
awning on the after part of the ship. The man in K battery 
with his seventeen hundred and thirty-five different designs 
in tattoo; the genius who could whistle two parts at once 
without puckering his lips ; the private who had commanded 
a regiment of volunteers — I got to know them all intimately 
by the sound of their voices, days before I learned to recog- 
nize them by sight. 

Under my window there always assembled a little knot 
of regulars who talked over every conceivable subject from 
the metaphysics of Nietsche to the construction of an iron- 
clad. Their method was to start a topic, get every man to 
express an opinion or to ask a few questions and then to 
tear all the theories to shreds and end up the argument by 
a general disruption of courteous relations. It always went 
along on the same lines — argument just for the pleasure of 
expressing contrary opinions. It was indeed amazing what 
a variety of abstract subjects they dug out and how warmly 
they would dispute over any statement that was brought for- 
ward, no matter how accurate it might be. After the flutter 
of a hot argument quiet would prevail and they would settle 
down to read or to one of the numerous occupations of a 
soldier's leisure. The books they read were as surprising as 
some of the topics they selected for discussion. Observing 
one young fellow for several days earnestly reading a dull- 
looking volume I asked him to show it me. It was "The Yorke- 
Wendte Discussion on the Primacy of the Pope, Church, and 
State." At a certain hour in the forenoon all the bedding 
and clothing were brought up to be aired and the ship looked 

27 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

for the time like the back yards of a row of tenement houses. 
This operation resulted in an endless amount of confusion 
for the articles often got hopelessly mixed but was part of 
an excellent system, and with the scrupulous cleanliness of 
the quarters contributed largely, no doubt, to the good health 
of the men. 

We really did not need any entertainment in the saloon, 
for existence was pleasure enough, but the active and enter- 
prising chief paymaster, Colonel McClure, persuaded us that 
we were pining for diversion, and therefore, by common con- 
sent, he set aside certain evenings for this purpose and se- 
lected his entertainers. General Merritt gave us a talk, "An 
Incident in the Life of Captain Joseph Ashe, whose Motto 
was : 'Six Feet of Earth or a Yellow Sash' " ; Colonel Brain- 
ard, the Sergeant Brainard of the Greely expedition, told of 
the hardships of that adventurous voyage; Major Thomp- 
son started afresh the perennial discussion about the Custer 
massacre by relating his evxperiences with the force which 
reached the field immediately after the disaster; Dr. Wood- 
ruff took the conceit out of us by unfolding the horrors of de- 
generacy ; Chaplain Doherty gave a brief review of the chief 
elements of the Christian, Mohammedan and Buddhist re- 
ligions and I attempted to revive a dead interest in a past 
conflict by reviewing some prominent incidents in the Russo- 
Turkish campaign of 1877-78. There was material enough 
for our impresario to draw on for a long time, but, almost 
before we knew it, the backbone of our voyage was broken 
and we were approaching the Ladrones at the northern end 
of the group almost exactly due west from Honolulu, near 
latitude twenty degrees north and distant 3095 miles. It 
was the 19th of July by the sailors' reckoning but the 20th 
by all landsmen's calculations. On Tuesday the 12th at half 
past two in the afternoon, we crossed the meridian 180 de- 
grees west of Greenwich and were told that the next day 
would be Thursday the 14th of the month. In matter of 

28 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

fact, although the subject was much discussed by the debat- 
ing society on the deck near my room, none of us would 
have missed the day, they were all so agreeably monotonous. 

The vicinity of land apparently caused a disturbance in the 
air currents, for the day in question opened dull and rainy. 
We had been visited almost daily by frequent showers, and 
nearly always there was a veil of rain drifting across the 
water in the distance, but the same tender, lofty blue sky 
favored us every day and at sunset we had the same rank of 
gilded towers and battlements all along the horizon. The 
thermometer meanwhile had varied between eighty degrees 
and eighty-four degrees in the day, dropping to seventy-six 
degrees or seventy-eight degrees at night. 

On the 19th came a distinct change. It rained hard at in- 
tervals until about noon and the air was heavy and saturated 
with moisture. Then it cleared up a little and we could see 
a considerable distance. We were all eager to sight the land 
which had an additional interest for us because the island 
Farallon de Pajaros which we were approaching is an active 
volcano. In the latter part of the afternoon, far away to the 
southward there hovered in the mist the great conical mass 
of the volcano on the island of Asuncion, and then we saw, 
directly in our path, the smaller but more symmetrical cone 
of the Farallon de Pajaros, its base distorted by mirage 
but its slightly truncated summit clear and distinct and 
wreathed with smoke which floated away to the north and 
mingled with the cumulus clouds which were assembling 
for their sunset parade. 

We did not get abreast of the island until after dark and 
then could see the crater fires reflected in a ruddy glow on 
the towering column of steam which puffed out at intervals, 
shooting up to the height of several hundred feet before it 
was caught by the casual breeze. The flanks of the moun- 
tain rose straight from the ocean, the perfect balance of the 
cone being broken only by a small low promontory jutting 

29 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

out to the southward, apparently an extinct crater of lesser 
size or a mass of lava. There was nothing cheery about the 
glow from the crater fires, nothing inviting in the rigid, 
straight lines of the mountain side which suggested, although 
we could not distinguish it in the darkness, a scorched and 
arid surface with no softening cloak of vegetation. It was 
a dismal and forbidding spectacle, this great dark mass 
crowned with a dull red light towering out of the water, 
isolated, dreary and solemnly impressive. We breathed 
more freely when we were out of the neighborhood of this 
uncanny peak which oppressed us with its grim majesty and 
caused us to brood over the uncertainties of the future and to 
conjecture on the reception we should meet in that land of 
devastating typhoons, shattering earthquakes and destructive 
fire-mountains of which this solitary cone was the active out- 
post. 

Speculation grew apace as we neared the six-hundred mile 
point, and many and quaint were the theories advanced as to 
what it might be best to do if we should chance to be over- 
hauled by a Spanish cruiser. The favorite plan often pro- 
posed by one officer was to haul down our flag when we were 
called upon to surrender, and to run alongside so near that 
our boarding party could jump aboard and capture the hos- 
tile vessel, at the same time hoisting our colors again. An- 
other and more feasible plan was to ram the enemy in spite 
of her fire, an operation which, if it could be accomplished, 
would probably sink both ships ; but sinking was better than 
being shot without the chance of a fight or being set ashore 
on a desert island. These and many other similar plans of 
campaign were brought forward in good faith and were 
sometimes discussed with a seriousness approaching the 
ludicrous. It was, after all, more or less of a risky business, 
going ahead, quite defenceless as we were, into waters which 
might be and which, indeed, we expected to be occupied by 
the enemy's fleet but, although we did talk a great deal about 

30 




GEORGE DEWEY 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the situation, it did not worry us at all in comparison with 
the thought that the business of capturing the town of 
Manila might be accomplished by General Greene and his 
expedition before we reached there. Meeting a Spanish 
cruiser might be a disaster but a tame and peaceful termina- 
tion to our long voyage seemed very much like a disgrace. 

After we passed the Ladrones, the weather grew rapidly 
warmer and the mercury ranged within a degree or two of 
ninety, day and night. The atmosphere, too, became dis- 
tinctly moister and the trade wind which had followed us all 
the way from Honolulu, died out altogether. We passed 
the six-hundred mile point at one o'clock in the morning of 
the 226., and now everybody on board was more or less alert, 
expecting to see the smoke of a steamer, anticipating, of 
course, that Admiral Dewey would send out to meet us. 
The sea was quiet and the heat rather oppressive because 
the humidity was high, and clouds settled upon the water at 
times so we could see but a short distance ahead of us. 
Nothing more substantial than cloudforms and showers of 
rain broke the horizon until about five o'clock on the after- 
noon of the 23d, when suddenly, under a stratum of low 
clouds, we caught sight of low bluffs and rocks with break- 
ing water off to the southwest, a dozen miles or so away. 
This was our first glimpse of Luzon and, two hours later, we 
were off Cape Engafio, four or five miles to the north of it. 
The high mountains which rise near the coast in this part of 
Luzon were completely screened by the clouds, and we could 
only distinguish the small headland and jutting rocks. As 
darkness came on we showed no lights and lay our course 
between Luzon and the Babuyanes, passing so near to 
Camiguin and Fuga that we could distinguish in the dark- 
ness the general conformation of the land. Not a glimpse of 
light, not a fishing-boat, not a single sign of life were seen, 
and we ran on silently the whole night. 

Morning broke, dull and showery, and disclosed the great 

3* 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

headland of Cape Bojeador, the northwest point of Luzon in 
the province of North Ilocos. Now we could see that the 
whole country was covered with dense forests, extending 
even to the high mountain tops, which were shrouded 
with heavy clouds. Not a village was in sight nor even a 
clearing. It was a wild and desolate region, yet in its varie- 
gated mantle of rich verdure, flecked with spots of sunlight 
and accented by the dark lines of ravines which broke the 
billowy roundness of the foothills, it was refreshing to our 
weary eyes, and enticed us with its morning coolness. Sud- 
denly, through the drifting mist ahead of us, the masts and 
funnel of a large steamer appeared standing across our 
course. We watched her with interest bordering on anxiety 
until the hull came in sight and then we saw she was a com- 
mercial vessel. Whether she saw us or not, she showed no 
signal and did not alter her course but stood away to the 
northeast and disappeared in a few minutes. As if further 
proof was needed that the situation at Manila had been un- 
altered by the movement of Camara's fleet, a large four- 
masted vessel came in sight about noon and followed the 
first one, paying no attention to us. At intervals through 
the whole day the clouds settled so low that we lost sight of 
the land entirely, frequent showers of warm rain, sometimes 
accompanied by tremendous peals of thunder, burst upon us 
with so terrific a deluge that the awnings were no shelter, 
and we huddled together in the saloon and perspired and 
fretted at this tearful welcome of the Philippines. The day 
dragged on slowly — the last day at sea always seems twice as 
long as the others — and, although we were relieved from all 
thought of the Spanish fleet, we were consumed with the 
fever heat of impatience to be at our destination and to learn 
what had happened in the month since we had had any news. 
Peace might have been declared, Santiago might have fallen, 
Cervera's fleet might have escaped, and so on through a long 
list of possibilities, the discussion of which did not tend to 

32 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

kill time but rather to increase our anxiety for news. There 
was nothing to divert us on deck, for a gray curtain of mist 
surrounded us and only broke occasionally to disclose a 
rounded headland and a sodden, dripping landscape. The 
sun struggled out once or twice, but gave up the attempt to 
disperse the dense masses of vapor and without the usual 
sunset colors in the west, darkness came on, and we still 
surged on through the mist without the guidance of shore 
lights but with the comfort of our own illumination. 

Early in the morning, the 25th, we ran past the mouth of 
Subig bay, shortly bore around a little to the east, and soon 
after breakfast saw the lofty island of Corregidor, easily rec- 
ognizable from its position between two passages of un- 
equal width, directly in front of us. The rugged shores to 
the north across the Boca Chica showed no signs of habita- 
tion, and a dense jungle covered every spot except the black 
and jagged rocks at the water's edge, even to the great shoul- 
ders of the mountain range which thrust its summits into the 
rain clouds. To the south and east, the long line of a sandy 
beach with a rigid level of palm trees beyond, swept away in 
a gentle curve until lost on the perspective and, behind and 
beyond, distant, low foot-hills rose against the faintly seen 
masses of volcanic mountains towering high above the clouds 
and dwarfing all other features of the extensive prospect. 
Everything was steaming and dripping and gray, but there 
was a shimmering in the distance where Manila lay, as if the 
bay were in sunlight. 

A dark spot ahead rising and falling as if it were sus- 
pended somewhere in the visible atmosphere which gave an 
unusual look to the water, now gave us something to specu- 
late on. At times it looked as large as a warship, and then 
scarcely more massive than a clump of drift wood, so dis- 
turbing to the vision was the combination of mirage and 
vapor which distorted everything near the surface of the 
water. We had just decided it must be a patrol boat when 

3 S3 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

it turned out to be a native dugout, the first indication we 
had come across that the land was inhabited, except, of 
course, the deserted lighthouse we saw on Cape Bojeador. 

We ran along at full speed, leaving a wake of foaming 
waters, and entered the Boca Grande, following the same 
channel by which Commodore Dewey's fleet entered the har- 
bor the night before the battle, and, as we opened out on the 
bay, a horizonless expanse of sea and sky was before us, un- 
broken by a single object and with no perspective of fleet 
and town which had been pictured in our minds. The 
patches of turf on Corregidor, the fresh earth marking the 
position of the batteries and the neat lighthouse with its 
group of buildings nestling at its base, and its attendant rock, 
were the only solid objects visible in this curiously unreal 
effect of atmosphere, for everything was now vibrating and 
floating in a silvery haze. Ahead of us, where we expected 
to see Cavite and our fleet and the towers of Manila beyond, 
was a blank glare of sunlit vapor. 

While we were trying in vain to trace the course of the 
shore to the vanishing point, certain confused perpendicular 
lines came into view in the extreme distance and then a long 
level mass with a rigid contour, distinctly higher than the 
neighboring land, was disclosed by the shifting of the mist, 
and we recognized at once the port at Cavite. The per- 
pendicular lines developed gradually into the masts of the 
warships, and presently their gray hulls were visible and the 
darker forms and more slender masts and funnels of other 
vessels, just abreast the fort. As we approached, one of the 
gray ships which we soon saw was the Concord, left her 
moorings and steamed out to meet us and with this escort 
we rounded the point, made our way through the line of the 
squadron, and dropped anchor between the Olympia and the 
point. A salute from the flagship announced the fact that 
the commander-in-chief had arrived and the dull echo of 
the great guns sounded along the great curve of the low 

34 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

shore miles to the north where the domes and towers and 
palaces of Manila gleamed white in the sunlight, and carried 
to the Spanish forces an emphatic message that this was the 
beginning of the end, and to the foreign fleet grouped near 
the town, the more welcome news that the tedious wait for 
the final act of the drama would be broken speedily. 

The little roadstead was filled with vessels of all sorts, 
from the aggressive monsters bristling with polished cannon 
to the peaceful-looking transports and dingy colliers. Steam 
launches hurried to and fro, native canoes with outriggers 
and curious sails caught the first puffs of the freshening 
monsoon and, half buried in foam, scurried from ship to ship 
with their loads of fruit. Scattered between us and the 
shore, almost within bow shot, the distorted and ruined up- 
perworks of the sunken Spanish vessels showed high out of 
water, ugly but significant monuments to the efficiency of 
our fleet. A few hundred yards to the south of us, the town 
of Cavite with red roofs rising above the dark green masses 
of trees, the long gray walls of the fort, the bald facade 
of the arsenal looked exactly like a small Spanish or Italian 
seaport with its small landing place crowded with miscel- 
laneous craft and groups of loungers on the wharf end. 

A large party of visitors, many of them correspondents, 
came aboard and in a few minutes Admiral Dewey came up 
the steep companion-way as active as a midshipman, was 
welcomed by General Merritt as an old friend, and sat for an 
hour or more with him in his stateroom, while the visitors 
and our own company crowded around the door, some anx- 
ious to see the chiefs together, others awaiting a brief word 
with one or both of them. 

Historic meetings of eminent personages are so often illus- 
trated in the periodicals of the day and described with so 
much accuracy of detail that it has become very stale reading, 
but yet I cannot refrain from a brief comment on the contrast 
between the two officers, the one a soldier of long service 

35 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

with a record for conspicuous gallantry in scores of battles, 
and the other the most successful and popular naval hero of 
the day, whose remarkable exploit has raised him to a posi- 
tion in the estimation of the world and in the hearts of the 
American people in which he has no rival. 

General Merritt is tall, of commanding presence and dis- 
tinguished military bearing, the type of officer, indeed, for 
whom the phrase "every inch a soldier" might well have been 
invented. Admiral Dewey, on the other hand, is not above 
medium height, but his strong personality would be felt in 
any assembly of men. He has nothing of the traditional 
manner of the bluff and hearty sea-dog, and I doubt if any- 
one would be able to pick him out of a crowd as a naval 
officer. 

Our journalistic visitors, some of whom had been on the 
spot since the ist of May, were full of information about the 
situation, and rattled off the names, Bacoor, Parafiaque, 
Tambo, Malate and Malabon, with bewildering fluency and 
quite confused us with their rapid description of the military 
situation in the neighborhood of Manila. In a day or two we 
ourselves unconsciously acquired familiarity with the names 
of the different important points along shore, and the topog- 
raphy of our limited field of activity became as well known 
to us as the drives in Central Park. From the anchorage the 
whole grand curve of the low shore from Cavite point to the 
houses of Malate, the southern suburb of Manila, is plainly 
visible, and not more than a half dozen miles distant at the 
extreme point, seems to be a clean, unbroken line of sandy 
beach with a level fringe of trees growing close to the high- 
water mark. The monotonous band of foliage is interrupted 
at long intervals by the roofs and towers of large churches, 
marking the position of the villages. Far in the distance a 
great mountain range pierces the clouds, and leading the eye 
away beyond the shining town disappears in the perspective. 
On the opposite shore the foot-hills rise abruptly from the 

36 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

water's edge, and to the north, far beyond the cluster of for- 
eign warships, the wooded shores melt away into the dis- 
tance and the faint outline of volcanic summits stretching 
across in a rank from east to west complete the grand amphi- 
theatre of mountains which surround the beautiful expanse 
of the bay. Just where the level band of foliage on the shore 
ends and the houses of Malate begin stands a small but con- 
spicuous white building which was pointed out to us as 
within the Spanish lines and a very short distance this side 
of it a spot of brown against the background of dark green 
marked the insurgent position on the seashore where we 
were told there was a brisk skirmish regularly every evening 
about nine o'clock. 

The correspondents who had been living in comfortable 
quarters in Cavite or on the warships were so spick and 
span and tidy in their appearance that we did not need to be 
told that theretofore they had suffered no hardships of cam- 
paign, but it was a great relief to hear from them that every- 
thing had been waiting for General Merritt's arrival. Noth- 
ing had been done, in fact, towards active land operations, 
except landing the Second Brigade at Tambo, where the 
camp had been named after the admiral. 

Towards evening Greene came aboard straight from Camp 
Dewey, sunburned and weatherworn, lookirg as if he had 
been through a long and arduous campaign. His campaign 
hat was battered, his gray linen uniform was mud-stained 
and bleached and the blue trimmings were faded, but he had 
an alert, keen expression which showed that all his energies 
were enlisted in his work and that the business was exactly 
to his taste. We secretly envied him his experience, brief 
and comparatively uneventful as it was, and to our eyes that 
uniform suggested a volume of anticipations and a multitude 
of reminiscences. To me came back like a flash the vivid 
memory of dreary weeks at Plevna and in the Danube valley, 
of the winter march across the Balkans, and the exhilarating 

37 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

campaign from Sofia to Adrianople, in all of which Greene, 
then United States military attache to the Russian army, was 
a prominent figure, participating in every important move- 
ment and studying the war with a thoroughness and intelli- 
gence which gained him the admiration and respect of all in 
authority. 

That evening was memorable on board the Newport. 
After our long voyage and our fever of impatience, we were 
finally at our goal and sure to be in at the death. As we sat 
on the deck in the darkness the electric lights along the water 
front of Manila sparkled with festive brilliancy and occasion- 
ally a dull red flash, followed at a long interval by the echo 
of a report, showed that the regular evening duel was in 
progress. To add to the dramatic effect, our lights were all 
extinguished by orders given by Commodore Dewey, and the 
powerful searchlights of the squadron played nervously over 
the water, and signals were interchanged constantly between 
the vessels of the fleet. 



CHAPTER III 

It was settled that General Merritt with a small party 
should accompany General Greene ashore the next morning 
and have a look around the lines so that the commander-in- 
chief should have a correct idea of the situation and be able 
to decide on a plan of campaign. We consequently took a 
steam launch early the following day and ran in as close as 
we could to the beach where we saw the gleam of tents near 
the little village of Tambo hidden away among the manga 
trees and the palms. The surf was breaking so heavily on 
the beach that it was impossible to approach within hailing 
distance, but a captured Spanish boat was put off with a crew 
of mountaineers and we were rowed and poled and dragged 
through the breakers and then carried to dry land on the 
shoulders of the men. A general looks neither dignified nor 
picturesque riding pick-a-back, and I refrain from a realistic 
description of the landing of the first American governor- 
general of the Philippines, which had more of the hilarious 
than of the heroic in it. We walked by a narrow path 
through the tangle of bamboo and tropical undergrowth; 
past native huts perched high on stilts where naked children 
scampered about like monkeys and scantily clad adults stared 
at us from the platforms of their airy little habitations ; past 
an almost pretentious two-storied, tin-roofed house from 
which was flying the headquarters flag, and out upon a broad, 
open plain three or four feet above the line of high water, 
extending north and south about a mile and a half long and 
less than a quarter of a mile broad without any break of im- 
portance. As far as we could see in either direction, this 
whole area was covered with shelter tents. The headquar- 

39 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ters camp and the hospital tents were pitched between the 
fringe of trees along the shore and the plain, and a natural 
boundary of trees separated these groups of tents from each 
other and from the main encampment. 

I have lived in scores of camps and bivouacs, in the 
swamps of Virginia, in the Danube morasses and on the 
arid hills of the Dabrudscha, in the snows of the Balkans, 
and in the ore fields of Roumelia, but a more curiously inter- 
esting panorama than Camp Dewey never met my eyes. The 
company streets were laid out from east to west and extended 
from the tree border perhaps two-thirds the distance to the 
Camino Real, or main road from Manila to Cavite, which 
formed the eastern boundary of the plain. The officers' 
tents were a little apart on the shore side of the camp ground, 
and the cooks' establishments, a confusion of shelters, pits, 
rude ovens and piles of fuel, were placed on the side near the 
Camino Real. The shelter tents were rigged up with great 
skill on platforms of split bamboo a foot or two from the 
ground, and sometimes a two storied framework was erected 
which housed four men more or less comfortably. The men 
soon learned the value of bamboo as a material for general 
use, and many of the tents were marvels of skilful arrange- 
ment and ingenious contrivances for comfort quite different 
from any articles of native manufacture. Unfortunately 
these shelters which were adequate for protection in fine 
weather, were but little better than nothing in the severe 
tropical downpours which visited this region almost every 
day and flooded the camp inches deep in very few minutes. 
Nothing short of a good duck tent with a well set fly would 
keep the wet out on these occasions, and even in the best 
tent it would drive through the ventilators and between the 
flaps and drench everything inside. 

When we landed at Camp Dewey there had been no rain 
for some hours, and the ground was dry in spots but the 
paths and roads were canals of black mud. Walking was 

40 




f 




TWO-STORY TENT OF COLORADO TROOPS, CAMP DEWEY 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

out of the question, the riding ponies were very small and 
few in number, and therefore carromatos or light two- 
wheeled spring carts in common use were brought to trans- 
port the heaviest members of the party. General Merritt 
and General Greene occupied one of these vehicles until it 
became too great a torture, for they could scarcely sit upright 
and it bumped and jolted and narrowly escaped upsetting 
several times, and jumbled the passengers together regard- 
less of rank and its privileges, and then the former took to 
the pony I was riding, which was so small that the general 
could almost stand and let the animal walk under him. 

We left the camp in as much state as circumstances per- 
mitted, the orderly and I on rats of ponies, leading the way, 
then a carromato with the generals followed by a second one 
with two other officers. It was not surprising that in this 
guise the commanding general was recognized by only few 
of the men. We splashed along for about a mile along the 
Camino Real, or rather in the Camino Real, for our horses 
were hock deep in the mud, until we came to a cross road 
which leads from the beach eastward and straight to the 
village of Pasay, and beyond this place wanders off with 
many windings through the rice fields and between dense 
hedges of bamboo to San Pedro Macati, a small village on 
the Pasig river, soon named by our men "Pete M'Carty's." 
A half mile or so beyond Pasay our engineers had built a 
bamboo bridge over a sluggish, muddy river, just where it 
flows out of a broad open marsh, and our pickets were posted 
along this road from the beach to this bridge, which was the 
limit of our area of occupation. From this bamboo bridge 
to which we succeeded in floundering on foot, we could look 
across the broad marsh cut up into a maze of rice fields and 
distinguish the course of the highway from Paco to Santa 
Ana, along which there were Spanish blockhouses and en- 
trenchments, one or two of which were visible among the 
trees. The twin towers of San Sebastian church in Manila 

4i 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

showed above the trees directly to the north, and the quaint 
belfry of Santa Ana made a conspicuous landmark further 
to the east, beyond which we could see the densely wooded 
elevations which form the backbone of the narrow strip of 
territory between the sea and the Laguna de Bay with here 
and there a white building or a church tower. The road 
beyond the bamboo bridge was held by the insurgents, who 
also occupied an irregular line of scattered rifle pits and de- 
tached entrenchments which practically extended along the 
edge of the open marsh skirting it to the north for half a mile 
or more and then turning abruptly west until it met the shore 
at a point about a thousand yards distant from the stone fort 
San Antonio de Abad, the chief stronghold of the Spanish in 
their whole line of suburban defences. The fourteen other 
forts or blockhouses which had been erected a few months 
before at various points of strategic importance were diminu- 
tive structures, but with their surrounding breastworks were 
formidable enough to cause trouble, although by no means 
so important as the great stone pile on the seashore. 

Our pickets were having a rather dull time of it, for they 
did not have the excitement of watching the enemy, as the 
insurgents were attending to that duty a few hundred yards 
farther to the front. They did, however, have the doubtful 
entertainment of being exposed to a shower of Mauser bul- 
lets and shells whenever there was any Spanish firing, be- 
cause they were well within the danger zone and, indeed, just 
where a large part of the missiles found lodgment. To 
protect themselves they occasionally had low embankments 
of earth stacked up in the hedges or bamboo clumps which 
had been built by the insurgents as they advanced, and as 
time went on it was found necessary to throw up breast- 
works around the huts which were used as guard-head- 
quarters. 

There was no firing on the day of our excursion, and not 
far in the rear of our pickets the natives were ploughing the 

42 



8 i 



, I 




EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

paddy fields with the ungainly water buffaloes, and in the 
huts which are hidden away among the trees in a most ex- 
traordinary fashion and are sometimes as difficult to see as 
birds' nests, the women and children were engaged in their 
usual occupations. The only thing which gave us the im- 
pression that this was not a picnic was the actions of our out- 
post on the seashore, whither we proceeded from the bamboo 
bridge, retracing our route along the cross road. The sol- 
diers were crouching behind a rude breastwork made of a 
log and some rubbish and now and then one of them would 
rise up and cautiously look over in the direction of the town. 
We walked out upon the beach and examined the ground 
with our glasses. A few hundred yards up the beach was 
stranded a great iron lighter, and near it we could see the 
white posts of a large garden gate which marked the position 
of the afterwards notable Capuchin house, at that time a 
hundred and fifty yards in advance of the insurgent lines. 
About midway between the first hulk and the sand-bag bat- 
tery, which was a prominent feature under the gray walls of 
the stone fort San Antonio de Abad, was a second stranded 
vessel and just beyond this we could see an indentation in 
the seashore where a broad but shallow estuary enters the 
bay. We took careful note of these different landmarks, 
knowing that each one of them might later become of con- 
spicuous importance in the advance. With the naked eye we 
could distinguish the small sand bags used in strengthening 
the parapet of the fort, and the embrasures of the field guns 
mounted there. We were in easy range of these pieces and 
indeed within easy killing distance of the Mausers, but our 
presence apparently was unnoticed, although we made a 
prominent group and tempting mark on the broad, gently 
sloping beach. Having pretty thoroughly studied the ground 
in the vicinity of this part of the Spanish defences, we re- 
turned to camp and to the ship without having heard a shot 
fired, just in time to escape the regular afternoon gale and 

43 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

tempest which burst upon the bay while cascos were along- 
side the Newport, half loaded with stores and ammunition 
and before the fleet of small boats and launches could reach 
harbor. In a few moments a dangerous sea arose and the 
cascos were knocked about a good deal and nearly swamped 
before they could be towed to Cavite for safety. The sol- 
diers stowing the cargo were unable to get back to the ship, 
and the last we saw of them that day they were clinging to 
the rail of the boats for dear life, seasick and drenched with 
the chill rain. Several of the officers who had been on a 
visit to the squadron or ashore at Cavite made heroic at- 
tempts to board the Newport where plenty and comfort 
awaited them, and where they could dry their bedraggled 
plumes, but the sea was so vicious that it was impossible for 
the launch to approach the companion ladder, and after many 
adventures they found shelter ashore and slept in wet clothes, 
supperless, much annoyed at their initiation to the delights 
of campaigning in the tropics. 

This was our first introduction to the caprices of the 
weather in the rainy season, and we shortly found that we 
could safely count on a smooth sea and sunshine all the early 
part of the day, and with quite as much certainty expect a 
gale and heavy showers in the afternoon. There was every 
reason, then, why all operations conducted on the water 
should be undertaken in the early morning and particularly 
the landing of the troops on the open beach. This was seldom 
done as I shall presently show. 

The following day, the 27th of July, the great lumbering 
cascos were towed back to the ship and all our men put 
aboard, the Astors on one boat and the batteries of heavy 
artillery on the others, with all their camp equipage. The 
usual mode of proceeding was to tow the casco within a short 
distance of the beach, where she was dropped and, throwing 
over an anchor to keep her head to the sea, paid out cable 
and drifted slowly through the breakers where she stranded 

44 




ASTOR BATTERY BOARDING CASCO TO GO ASHORE FROM THE NEJrPORT 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and lay until the next tide. These useful vessels are very 
strongly built and will stand a great deal of hard usage. This 
plan worked all right when the cable was strong and the 
anchor held. Our men were sent ashore rather late in the 
day, and reached the landing place in the height of the after- 
noon blow. The regulars got ashore all right according to 
programme, but the Astors' casco parted her cable, drifted 
broadside on, swamped and was broken up. All the stores 
were soaked, the ammunition chests flooded and the powder 
in the metal cases was almost all wet and spoiled. The men 
got ashore without accident, and made camp before supper- 
time, but they were not a little humbled to find themselves 
within striking distance of the enemy, with no effective 
weapons but their revolvers. 

It was now apparent that the difficulty of the situa- 
tion for a correspondent which was enormously increased 
by the rainy season, lay chiefly in the irregularity of 
communication between the camp and Cavite. The cable 
was cut and all telegrams as well as letters were taken at in- 
tervals by a government despatch boat whenever the commo- 
dore thought necessary to send her to Hong Kong. It was 
the regulation that all telegrams were to be passed by a cen- 
sor on the Olympia, and it was quite on the books that one 
might miss the despatch boat by sheer inability to get aboard. 
Personally, I could not then nor can I now see the necessity 
of rigorous censorship at Manila, when all damaging in- 
formation could be sent to Hong Kong in a private letter and 
be transmitted from there to Europe quite as expeditiously 
as if it had been put in the form of a cable message at the 
beginning. Besides there was no information to be sent 
which could possibly be of assistance to the Spanish cause. 
The censorship, however, was rigidly maintained, and it was 
even projected to exercise this power over letters as well as 
telegrams. This I know because I heard an officer in high 
authority seriously discuss the question and express his de- 

45 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

termination that it should be done. The matter of com- 
munications was settled luckily for me to my entire satisfac- 
tion through the kindness of Mr. Joseph L. Stickney, the 
New York Herald correspondent, who had been ordered to 
Spain. He had hired a medium-sized steam launch called 
the Albany from a Captain Plummer, a native of Rochester, 
New York, I believe, who had been for many years in the 
stevedore business in Manila. This he turned over to Mr. 
T. H. Reid and myself for our joint use in serving the New 
York Herald and the Times of London. Mr. Reid had come 
down on the Esmeralda for the Times and his own paper the 
China Mail, and had arrived in time to see the second act in 
the fight. He was perfectly familiar with the ins and outs 
of the business in Manila bay, and I proposed to him that, 
inasmuch as we had interests in common, we should divide 
the field, he to take care of everything on the water and I 
to look after the land campaign, the Albany to serve as a 
means of keeping us in constant touch with each other. She 
was as stanch and fast a little craft as could be found, even 
in that home of the steam launch, Hong Kong, and carried a 
reckless and harum-scarum crew of four natives and an in- 
definite number of women and children who swarmed the 
untidy deck abaft the engine and were always cooking and 
washing there. The captain was not over enthusiastic about 
work, but was indifferent to exposure, cherished a firm belief 
that no sea could swamp the Albany, loved adventure, and 
had only one prominent ambition, which we persistently 
failed to gratify, the possession of a revolver. Altogether it 
was just the craft and quite the proper crew for our pur- 
poses. 

The men from the Newport safely established in camp and 
nothing yet being heard of the remainder of our fleet, we had 
the inclination to look about Cavite, where General Anderson 
some weeks earlier had established his headquarters and 
where there were about 2000 of our troops. The town, 

46 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

which near the water front is, to the sea-worn eye, rather 
pretty, with an abundance of shade trees and open grassy 
spaces with flowering shrubs and park seats, covers the low 
promontory as far as a narrow neck about three-quarters of a 
mile to the south, with the exception of the large space on 
the north and west occupied by the fort and arsenal. It is 
a typical Spanish provincial town, a jumble of bald and ugly 
houses and a maze of squalid and dirty streets. The bom- 
bardment of our fleet had not left any very prominent scars, 
although shells had burst in some of the public buildings. The 
most of the damage done to the place was at the hands of the 
insurgents who had busily looted there on several occasions. 
Attractive as it was at first sight, as we walked up through 
the arsenal grounds which were busy with hundreds of work- 
men engaged in all sorts of repairs and crowded with sol- 
diers, I soon got to loathe the place on near acquaintance for 
its shabbiness and cheap and artificial character. The col- 
umns and arches which looked so fine and solid through the 
trees, turned out to be poor stucco work; the great statue 
which rose high above the level green turf on a grand pedes- 
tal and gave a finished and park-like appearance to the little 
square, proved on nearer examination to be rather an un- 
skilfully carved wooden affair, much besmeared with paint, 
and on a base which might pass as a bit of theatrical prop- 
erty. In bright sunshine the green mould which stained 
everything, creeping up the walls, accenting all the joints and 
spreading over all perpendicular surfaces in great patches, 
varying from intense purplish black to vivid metallic greens 
and yellows, was picturesque enough to look upon from afar, 
but close at hand, and particularly in the rain, it seemed re- 
pulsively noxious. Besides, its picturesqueness is mon- 
otonously obvious like the brush work of the conventional 
scene painter. 

The insurgents who were mixed up with our troops in a 
most extraordinary manner, having their own guards inside 

47 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

our zone of occupation and pre-empting most of the best 
houses in the place, held, in the casemates of the fort and in 
adjoining dungeons, a large number of Spanish prisoners, 
who were in a most wretched plight from starvation. This 
fact was soon reported to General Merritt, who immediately 
took steps to relieve their distress. 

I went with Colonel Brainard and Major Cloman of the 
Commissary Department to investigate the condition of these 
prisoners before anything was done for them, and we found 
that they were, indeed, dying for want of proper food. 
Many of them had suffered from fever and were unable 
to digest the boiled rice, which was, so far as we could find 
out, the only ration served out to them, and by no means 
in adequate quantities. The large majority of them were 
horribly emaciated and weak, and were scarcely able to stag- 
ger around the court yard. Those who had money to buy 
bread and other simple articles of diet, which were sold by 
native women in the very entrance of the prison, were fat 
and hearty, and frankly boasted that their condition was due 
to their ability to buy food. General Merritt ordered rations 
to be distributed to them, and this was done promptly. In 
a day or two Aguinaldo sent a protest against feeding his 
prisoners, but no notice was taken of it. He then removed 
them somewhere out of Cavite. I saw, later, a batch of 
150 to 200 Spanish prisoners marched along through the 
bamboo swamps and the officer in charge told me they were 
going to be employed in digging entrenchments. This 
might have been the fate of those at Cavite, although it is 
quite possible that they were disposed of otherwise. I was 
told that about twenty-five of those who were fed by Gen- 
eral Merritt's orders reached Cavite one day two or three 
weeks later, in a native boat. They were all more or less 
disabled by wounds and bore other marks of hard usage, and 
reported that the native guard had attacked them suddenly, 
and that they had barely escaped with their lives. There was 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

no means of confirming this tale, and they were sent to Ma- 
nila and kept with the other prisoners. 

About a month before we arrived Aguinaldo and his 
friends had established a provisional revolutionary govern- 
ment, the seat of which was at Cavite, and he as the figure 
head and active leader had issued a proclamation, of which 
the following is a translation : 

"Message of the President of the Philippine Revolu- 
tion 

"If it is true that political revolution is the violent means 
employed by people to revindicate the sovereignty that nat- 
urally belongs to them and which has been usurped and 
trampled under foot by a tyrannical and arbitrary govern- 
ment, no revolution could be more just than that of the Fili- 
pinos, because the people have had recourse to it only after 
having exhausted all pacific means that reason and experi- 
ence could suggest. 

"The former Castilian kings looked upon the Filipinos as a 
kindred people united to Spain by a perfect solidarity of 
views and interests, and by the constitution of 1812, promul- 
gated in Cadiz at the time of the Spanish war of independ- 
ence, these islands were represented in the Spanish Cortes. 
The interests of the monastic orders, however, which have 
always found a strong support in the Spanish government, 
were opposed to the fulfilment of this sacred obligation, and 
the Philippines were excluded from the Spanish constitu- 
tion, and the people were left at the mercy of the discretion- 
ary or arbitrary powers of the governor-general. 

"In this state of affairs the people asked for justice, and 
begged the government for the recognition and restitution 
of their secular rights, which should gradually and progress- 
ively assimilate their position with that of the home country. 
Their prayers were unheeded, and their sons received as a 
reward for their abnegation, deportation, martyrdom and 
death. The religious bodies, whose interests always op- 
posed to those of the Filipinos, the Spanish government has 
made its own, laughed at the claims of the Filipinos, and 
replied, with the knowledge and permission of the govern- 
ment, that Spanish liberty had cost blood. 

4 49 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

"What other course then remained to the people but to in- 
sist, as they ought, upon the recovery of their stolen rights ? 
Nothing was left but force, and, convinced of that, they re- 
sorted to revolution. 

"And now they no longer limit themselves to asking for 
assimilation with the political constitution of Spain but ask 
for a complete separation, strive for independence completely 
assured that the time has come when they can and ought to 
govern themselves. 

"Thus they have constituted a revolutionary government 
with wise and just laws, suited to the abnormal conditions 
confronting them and which, at the proper time will prepare 
them for a true republic. Thus, taking for its only justifica- 
tion the right, for its sole aid, justice, and for its only means 
honorable labor, the government calls upon all its Filipino 
sons without distinction of class, and invites them to unite 
solidly with the object of forming a noble society, ennobled 
not by blood nor by pompous titles but by labor and the 
personal merit of the individual — a free society where there 
is no place for egotism and personal politics which wither 
and blight, nor for envy and favoritism which debase, nor 
for charlatanry and buffoonery, which cause ridicule. 

"No other course is' possible. A people that has given 
proof of fortitude and valor in suffering and in danger, of 
industry and learning in time of peace, is not made for 
slavery. This people is called to be great, to be one of the 
strong arms of Providence in directing the destinies of hu- 
manity. This people has sufficient energy and resources to 
recover from the ruin and humiliation in which it has been 
placed by the Spanish government and to claim a modest 
but worthy place in the concert of free nations. 

"Given at Cavite June 23, 1898. 

"Emilio Aguinaldo." 

This flowery production was widely circulated and had a 
great effect on the imagination of the people who, in the ela- 
tion of their present success in investing the town and in 
their belief that the United States was beginning a cam- 
paign in the Philippines in order to free them from Spanish 

oppression, shortly came to think that they were already a 
I 

So 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

nation. The incident of the feeding of the Spanish prisoners 
before mentioned is a fair indication of their attitude in re- 
spect to the American military authority which we discov- 
ered on our earliest acquaintance with them. 



CHAPTER IV 

Two days after we arrived in Manila bay I moved over to 
Camp Dewey and, having no tent, planned to take up my 
quarters in one of the native huts near by. Wandering 
through the headquarters camp on my way to the village, I 
happened to pass the front of a fine, large, new tent with 
an ample fly. The cheery voice of Colonel Potter of the En- 
gineers greeted me with : 

" Where are you going to tie up ?" 

" Under some nip a thatch, I expect," was the reply. 

"Haven't you got a tent?" 

"Not a yard of duck !" 

"Then come in with me. My tent-mate is ordered some- 
where else, and I am quite alone and dying for company." 

He was not obliged to repeat his invitation or to empha- 
size it, and I was soon installed in most comfortable quar- 
ters which were quite large enough to swing a cat in and 
were extensive enough to cover Colonel Potter with room to 
spare, and he was the largest man in the expedition, by inches 
I should judge, and with a heart in proportion, as I came 
to know on more intimate acquaintance with him. 

The different organizations in the Second Brigade were 
encamped in the following order : At the extreme north was 
a company of United States Engineers under command of 
Captain Connor; then came the two batteries of the Third 
Regular Heavy Artillery, the Astor Battery, the two Utah 
Light Batteries, the First California Volunteer Regiment, the 
First Colorado Volunteer Regiment, one battalion of the 
Eighteenth Regulars, the First Nebraska Volunteer Regi- 
ment and the Tenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment. 

52 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The ground on which the headquarters tents were pitched 
was a little lower than the peanut fields where the main camp 
stood only a few rods distant and even this slight difference 
of level made the latter site much more desirable. An in- 
tricate network of ditches was dug to carry off the water 
which stood long after every rain. These were dangerous 
pitfalls at night and between the tent ropes which were in- 
visible in the darkness, and these chasms a night wanderer 
about our camp had a sorry time of it. The main thorough- 
fare from the Camino Real to the beach, little more than a 
path, led past our tent, and the station of the headquarters 
guard was on the other side of this, together with the depot 
of the commissariat. 

Major Bell of the Intelligence Department pitched his tent 
opposite ours and stretched an extra fly between the two so 
that we had a comfortable joint veranda, which, being handy 
to the entrance of the camp and a very agreeable shelter at all 
times, was a popular lounging place for our friends. This 
most efficient and energetic officer was always on the rush 
and never really happy unless he was sneaking about some- 
where in the jungle near the enemy's lines, and he counted 
among his many duties the examination of spies, deserters 
and the natives who had found their way out of the city. In 
this task he was assisted by Major Bourns who had spent 
two or three years in the Philippines as an ornithologist with 
the J. B. Steere expeditions, understood the native character 
thoroughly and spoke Spanish and a little Tagalo. There 
was frequently a small drama in progress under our canvas 
portico and many were the wild tales we heard of sunken 
mines along the Luneta, of barbed wire stretched through 
the thickets and of wonderfully ingenious defences invented 
by the Spaniards. The highly colored adventures were re- 
lated with every expression of truth and perhaps were fairly 
accurate, some of them. The best information probably 
came from our own scouts who were enterprising and cour- 

53 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ageous beyond praise. Their task was no holiday one, for the 
whole country was not only sodden and flooded, and in places 
absolutely impassable even on foot, but the tangle of bamboo 
and undergrowth in front of the enemy's works was abso- 
lutely impenetrable. Captain Grove and Lieutenant Means 
of the First Colorado Regiment, Lieutenant Bryan of the 
Second Oregon and many others did most valuable work in 
this line and the tale of their exploits would make as good 
reading as the most exciting military romance. 

The Camino Real near the camp became speedily a tem- 
porary native bazaar with booths and shops and peddlers 
and it was always crowded no matter what the weather was. 
The enterprising Filipino soon discovered that the American 
soldier was free with his coin and was slow to acquire the 
Oriental custom of haggling. Consequently everything that 
could be scraped together in the way of fruit, vegetables and 
articles of native manufacture were brought to camp for sale 
at inflated prices. The money difficulty was always present 
and caused no end of annoyance. When the troops of our 
expedition landed they had nothing but United States silver 
and gold and this the natives would often take only at par 
although the dollar was worth more than double the Mexican 
coin of the same size and designation. Trade flourished fee- 
bly and spasmodically until there came into circulation a 
sufficient amount of Mexican and Filipino coins to ease the 
pressure for this currency. At the best of times small charge 
was very scarce, probably because the native knew it was 
somewhat to his advantage to be unable to give change when 
there was a chance of working off stock in its place. There 
was no system of providing the men with money of the coun- 
try, for the paymaster is not empowered by the Army Regu- 
lations to act as money changer. Therefore the urgent and 
constantly increasing demand for Mexican dollars in ex- 
change for United States coin, while it was not ignored by 
those in authority, was never met by any system of relief. 

54 



*8Tv 




EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

If an officer could get transportation to the Olympia he 
could get money changed at the market rate but very few 
were able to avail themselves of this privilege. Colonel 
McClure, the paymaster-in-chief, was so far blind to the text 
of the Army Regulations that he distributed many thousand 
dollars in exchange to those who he knew were in need of 
it, but his stock was not inexhaustible and this was only a 
slight relief. I am indebted to him for many favors of this 
kind for I never went on board the Newport without bring- 
ing a haversack full of Mexican dollars back to camp with 
me. Having inadvertently established a reputation as a 
money changer, our tent was often besieged by a line of men, 
each one with a gold piece to change and each one with a 
very good reason for wanting Mexican money. My pile of 
shining new dollars would disappear in an hour and I would 
be left without a silver piece to bless myself with. Much of 
the money was spent, of course, for luxuries and probably 
some was exchanged for the poisonous liquors which the 
natives had on sale, but a great deal was actually needed for 
payment of native labor, for the purchase of bamboo plat- 
forms which were prime necessities of comfort and health, 
for buying wood, forage, milk and other produce. 

Drinking water and fuel were neither of them easy to ob- 
tain. Strict regulations about boiling water for drinking 
purposes were in force and every effort was made to induce 
the men to drink this only, but it was often absolutely im- 
possible to keep up the supply, because the appliances for 
boiling water were none too numerous and wood was so 
scarce that sometimes there was not enough for cooking the 
regular meals. The operation was an additional burden on 
the cooks who naturally did not relish being compelled to 
start a fire, hours earlier than would have been necessary 
for the breakfast, in order to boil water for the day. Cooks 
cannot be expected to be sanitary enthusiasts and probably 
they avoided this task as much as they could with safety. 

55 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The supply of fresh water came from wells, little more than 
shallow pits dug in the soft earth. It was only necessary to 
dig down a foot or two and water was found which looked 
pure enough and was not unpalatable. Simply bringing it to 
a boil which was the usual practice, was of very little use as 
many found out. It took at least a quarter of an hour's boil- 
ing to destroy the harmful properties of this marsh water. 
Colonel Potter was seriously ill from drinking water which 
I brought myself from the supply of the headquarters mess. 
We found after the illness developed that this water, alleged 
to be boiled sufficiently, grew absolutely putrid if left stand- 
ing over night. After this experience I arranged an elabo- 
rate system of bamboo gutters and spouts around our tent, 
and having secured a number of large tin hardtack boxes, 
caught many gallons of rain water every day. This was un- 
doubtedly safe to drink and was very popular in the head- 
quarters camp, as I soon discovered, because if the tent was 
left unguarded an hour the supply evaporated entirely. When 
the canvas dried a little and the guys slackened up the gutter 
system got out of gear and would not work, so if a downpour 
came on in the night I had to go out and rearrange the bam- 
boos. This was sure to result in a thorough drenching, and, 
much to the amusement of the guard posted near by, I 
adopted the plan of attending to the gutters clothed only in a 
pair of native clogs. Thus I combined an exhilarating bath 
with an irksome task. 

Considering the quality of the water, it is remarkable how 
little illness resulted from its use, for less than three per cent, 
of the men were on sick report at any time. Almost all of 
us in the headquarters camp had a brief turn of malaria or 
some kindred ailment. In most instances it was simply a 
headache, lassitude and general malaise for a day or two and 
then wore off. It was a great surprise to find that exercise 
and strong food were healthful in that climate and our ex- 
perience in camp contradicted many theories about the insa- 

56 




■iifc. 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

lubrity of the Philippines. We were practically living in a 
marsh, were almost always wet and were frequently exposed 
to cold rains at night and to the powerful sun at day and all 
without feeling any particular ill effects from these rough 
experiences. Active life and excitement had doubtless a 
great influence on the health of the men, for the record was 
by no means kept up after the fall of Manila, when they 
fretted at the enforced idleness and grumbled constantly at 
the irksome garrison duties. 

With commendable forethought printed slips, with simple 
directions for preserving the health in the tropics, had been 
distributed among the troops, and on the Newport the ser- 
geants read these aloud to the men once a week so as to im- 
press them thoroughly with the importance of following the 
rules. Actual experience justified many of these suggestions, 
but it was a standing joke in the camp that the medical au- 
thorities earnestly recommended an immediate change of wet 
clothes for dry ones. At one time the theory that fat meat 
of any kind was injurious in tropical climates took a practi- 
cal turn and no pork was issued. The consequence was that 
there was a sudden famine of this necessary article and ab- 
solutely no fat for cooking. Such a general outcry was 
raised that the regular supply was soon issued again. The 
only ration which was generally unpopular was the canned 
salmon and this because a large proportion of the men were 
always ill after eating it. Everything else, so far as I know, 
was considered palatable and there was certainly less grum- 
bling about food than usual among soldiers. 

As far as our personal discomfort went the greatest an- 
noyance was the condition of our boots. We all regretted 
following the advice of a magazine writer who declared that 
rubber was of no service in the climate of the Philippines. 
A pair of india rubber boots would have been a godsend in 
camp for we often could not step outside the tent without 
paddling in the mud. If any one had a pair of dry boots in 

57 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Camp Dewey I did not see them. Even the canvas barrack 
shoes distributed at the camp were all wet in the cases. Every 
leathern article was always mouldy and the boots taken off 
at night would be decorated before morning, inside and out, 
with a beautiful pattern of this blue fungus. Clothes were 
never expected to be dry. We might get a chance to dry 
them in an hour or two of hot sunlight, but, except for the 
grandeur of the thing, it was scarcely worth while to trouble 
about it for they generally got wet again immediately. The 
tropical sun was not to be trifled with as we soon discov- 
ered, for the rays seem to have some special penetrating 
quality unobservable in a temperate zone and if the head 
were exposed without the proper covering a most uncom- 
fortable sensation followed. The campaign hat of the sol- 
diers was, all around, as adequate as need be, in the rainy 
season, at least, and although it took shapes never dreamed 
of by the manufacturer, it kept of! both sun and rain re- 
markably well. The helmets made in the United States 
usually melted like frosting on a wedding cake and became 
masses of pulp. 

The difficulty of providing fuel for cooking was, as I have 
said, exceedingly great, and it increased daily until the 
problem became most serious. It took a great many cords 
of wood a day to keep the fires going for the brigade and 
when General MacArthur's force reached camp there was 
well nigh a famine of this necessity. The fuel in common 
use in Manila is billets of hard dry wood of irregular size 
and shape, generally less than a yard long, which is brought 
on pony back from the mountains and shipped in cascos from 
the inlets and rivers. There was no supply of this to be pro- 
cured until near the end of our stay in camp and the fatigue 
parties went farther and farther away each day in search 
of dry trees or timber or any combustible material fit for 
supplying the fires. The insurgents had plenty of wood 
which they forced the natives to bring them. We were so 

58 




GENERAL F. V. GREENE S HEADQUARTERS 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

legal-minded that we treated the natives much the same as 
we were accustomed to treat the farmers in the vicinity of 
the state encampments. We took what they were willing to 
sell at war prices and paid cash for it. If the native refused 
to part with his property we went to look for the article else- 
where. The Malay cannot comprehend the disinclination of 
the European to exercise authority based on superior force 
alone and he puts this down to cowardice. The deduction is 
obvious. 

One afternoon General Greene sent for me and, as I 
mounted the steep stairs leading to his quarters, he asked : 

"Would you like to see a scrap ?" 

"Rather," was my natural reply. 

"Then follow a company which has just gone up the Ca- 
mino Real. The insurgents have arrested some of our men 
for taking firewood from a ruined house and their combs are 
very high and red and I am afraid there is going to be trou- 
ble." 

I paddled off as rapidly as I could through the mud and 
into a bamboo lane after the little force which was moving 
at quick time. Before I succeeded in overtaking them they 
had halted and were parleying with a fat interpreter belong- 
ing to Aguinaldo's staff. Presently a little group of men 
half Filipinos and half Americans came in sight and we 
gathered them all in and marched them back to camp to the 
great excitement of the natives. The rotund interpreter ar- 
gued that they were only pointing their Mausers at our men 
for fun, that they were not loaded and so on, but the half 
dozen villainous-looking insurgents were disarmed and haled 
before General Greene who heard the story from both par- 
ties and then let the culprits off with a warning to the inter- 
preter to make it known that if our men were found taking 
wood or any other material without payment or against the 
will of the owners they would be dealt with on complaint, 
but, that if the insurgents undertook to interfere with the 

59 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

United States soldiers by force he should consider it an in- 
sult to our arms and should act accordingly. 

This incident is only worth the telling as an indication of 
the strained relations which existed even at that early date 
between the two armed forces. The natives who threatened 
our men with loaded weapons had no authority over this 
property they were attempting to protect. They only made 
the bluff on general principles, native versus white man. It 
was at that time much easier to account for the prejudices 
of the natives than for the sentiments of our men towards 
them. The Tagalo is an extraordinarily conceited individual 
and the soldiers often used to say: "Those little fellows 
think they own the earth." The insurgents, who are mostly 
of this race, resented the presence of our troops because they 
were keen enough to understand that there was danger of 
their being foiled in their long cherished scheme of plunder- 
ing the rich town of Manila. The common idea held by the 
insurgent army may or may not have reflected the sentiments 
of the leaders, but, judging from the demands of Aguinaldo 
after the capture of the town, it is certain that one great 
stimulus offered to the native soldiers was the promise of 
loot. At the mention of the word Manila the insurgent was 
sure to brighten up and to draw his hand across his throat 
and to mention the Spaniards in terms of obloquy on the 
character of their ancestors. There is very little doubt that, 
if they had succeeded in taking the town before our army ar- 
rived — and they made a herculean effort to do this — they 
would have committed untold atrocities. The Spaniards 
knew they could expect no mercy from them, and fought 
desperately. Nevertheless, the insurgents, practically with- 
out artillery, accomplished wonders in forcing the enemy to 
retire to their inner line of defences. 

Until the campaign before Manila I always believed it to 
be an elementary military axiom that if two armed bodies 
jointly occupy a territory they must be either enemies or al- 

60 




UNITED STATES LTGHT ARTILLERY DRILLING ON THE BEACH 



<fr. *i*W # 





BATHING FOR MAN AND BEAST 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

lies. In the investment of Manila the insurgents were not 
recognized by us in either of these capacities. The difficul- 
ties in the way of formally recognizing them as belligerents 
are readily conceivable but I am quite unable to explain why 
we did not in the very beginning make them understand that \ 
we were the masters of the situation and that they must come ; 
strictly under our authority. Even the Army Regulations 
might possibly provide for a means of making use of them in 
the same way as Indian scouts were employed in the West- 
ern campaigns. Aguinaldo had assembled an effective force 
and had completely invested the town from Caloocan on the 
north to Maytubig on the south and yet no official notice of 
him was ever taken, although he repeatedly made urgent re- 
quests to be recognized as an ally or at least to be notified 
of his acknowledged statusV He never called upon General 
Merritt and although the latter passed through Bacoor, 
Aguinaldo's headquarters, they never met. )( The province of 
Cavite was entirely in the insurgents' hands when we ar- 
rived. They largely controlled the water transportation for 
they had possession of all the private steam launches except 
two, and almost all other craft except a few cascos, and 
on shore they had most of the available ponies and carroma- 
tos. At this time the main body of their army was concen- 
trated in this province and that was the moment to settle 
once for all the mutual relations between the two forces. It 
must have been patent to those in authority that the ill feel- 
ing which germinated there was increasing daily and would 
finally result in mischief. Those familiar with the Malay 
know that one of its strongest characteristics is an implaca- 
ble spirit of revenge and that nothing is more actively pro- 
vocative of this feeling than a real or imaginary slight or an 
act of injustice. As time passed and their position as suc- 
cessful antagonists of the Spaniards was not recognized, 
they began to grow aggressive and to comfort themselves 
with an obtrusive arrogance of manner. Of individual acts 

61 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

proving their real feeling there are a thousand instances to 
be cited and while their profession of friendship became 
more and more effusive and verbose it ceased to carry any 
assurance of sincerity. Officially, they committed themselves 
in only one direction while we were at Camp Dewey. They 
refused to let any white man enter their lines without a pass 
from Aguinaldo. Their camp gossip was always deroga- 
tory to the American troops and many stories were in active 
circulation regarding the cowardice of the strangers. Hav- 
ing been made more or less of a confidant on several occa- 
sions because, as I represented an English paper I was pre- 
sumed to be of that nationality, I was several times told a 
story of an American soldier at Cavite who took an orange 
from a market woman's basket and ran away for dear life 
when she attacked him to recover her property. Of course 
the American pickets were posted behind the insurgent line 
because they didn't dare to go any nearer the enemy and 
thus a fabric of tales was woven to bring discredit to the 
valor of the American soldier. 

It was an interesting sight at Camp Dewey to see the in- 
surgents strolling to and from the front. Pretty much all 
day long they were coming and going, never in military for- 
mation, but singly or in small groups, perfectly clean and tidy 
in dress, often accompanied by their wives and children and 
all chatting as merrily as if they were going off on a pigeon 
shoot. The men who sold fish and vegetables in camp in 
the morning would be seen every day or two dressed in holi- 
day garments with rifle and cartridge boxes strolling off to 
take their turn at the Spaniards. There was no restriction 
of age in that service and none of size, for at the best the 
race is of small stature, and the men looked like children in 
contrast with the stalwart giants of the Western regiments. 
Any boy who was strong enough to carry a rifle and ammu- 
nition, even if he were unable to level the weapon properly 
without resting it on the earthwork, was as good a soldier 

62 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

as the next man. When they had been at the front twenty- 
four hours they were relieved and returned home for a rest. 
They generally passed their rifle and equipments on to an- 
other man and thus a limited number of weapons served to 
arm a great many besiegers. They had no distinctive uni- 
form, the only badge of service being a red and blue cockade 
with a white triangle bearing the Malay symbol of the 
sun and three stars and sometimes a red and blue band 
pinned diagonally across the lower part of the left sleeve. 
The plundered arsenal at Cavite provided thousands of them 
with Spanish uniforms made of finely striped blue linen and 
these were much affected among them, particularly by the 
officers. A revolver with a cord to go around the neck was 
the most prominent badge of rank and much more esteemed 
than the sword, although most of the officers proudly wore 
both. 

During our short acquaintance with them in camp there 
were few casualties in their ranks notwithstanding the fact 
that scarcely a day passed but they expended a good deal of 
ammunition. Personally, I only saw a half dozen wounded 
men. Their organization was not apparent and it is scarcely 
probable that they possessed at that time any complete rec- 
ord of the numerical strength of their force or had anything 
like brigade organization, even if they were broken up into 
regular battalions. They were never observed to drill and 
were rarely seen to march in large detachments. Occasion- 
ally at Aguinaldo's headquarters at Bacoor where there were 
several excellent native bands a gala parade was organized 
and every available man was turned out. On these ceremo- 
nial occasions the young leader and his staff were most re- 
splendent in gold lace and trappings and the review was 
conducted with a pomp and style calculated to impress the 
native with the power of the dictator and the high quality 
of the army at his command. The troops certainly made an 
excellent appearance. Many of them, to be sure, had be- 

63 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPINES 

longed to the native volunteer force and had acquired a cer- 
tain amount of training in that way. The recruits were soon 
hammered into shape by the veterans of the rank and file and 
by the officers who did not waste many soft words on them, 
at least until they had sufficiently impressed them with the 
extent of the official authority — a method of training which 
the Malay is capable of understanding. I was often told by 
the under officers, many of whom were men of a certain edu- 
cation having studied with the priests, that their men were 
perfectly obedient to orders and that it was only necessary 
to make them appreciate the fact that the officers had su- 
preme power over them and they made the most devoted sol- 
diers. 

There was no visible Commissary or Quartermaster's de- 
partments, but the insurgent force was always well supplied 
with food and ammunition and there was no lack of trans- 
portation. The food issued at the front was mostly rice 
brought up in carromatos to within a few hundred yards of 
the trenches when it was cooked by women, perhaps in some 
large and now disused cock-fighting theatre which remarka- 
ble structures of bamboo and nipa are found everywhere in 
the country. Each man had a double handful of rice, some- 
times enriched by a small proportion of meat or fish, which 
was served him in a square of plantain leaf. Thus he was 
unencumbered with plate or knife and fork and threw away 
his primitive but excellent dish when he had "licked the 
platter clean." 

It was noticeable that the insurgents carried no water bot- 
tles nor haversacks and no equipments, indeed, but cartridge 
boxes. They did not seem to be worried by thirst like our 
men and were quite as averse to drinking water as the po- 
nies are. However hot and thirsty these animals may be 
they will never drink out of a pool or a stream, not for rea- 
sons of health, to be sure, but because they are accustomed 
to drink water which has been sweetened with coarse mo- 

64 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

lasses popularly called honey. The only times I saw the na- 
tives drinking water they were eating lumps of brown sugar 
at the same time. We remarked constantly on the cleanli- 
ness of the insurgents and of the natives in general. When 
our men would be smothered in mud and bedraggled almost 
beyond recognition, the insurgents would look as clean and 
well cared for as if they had never left their huts. One rea- 
son for this was that they built shelters everywhere along 
their trenches to keep off sun and rain and had platforms 
to stand on as well, a practice which added a great deal to 
their comfort and considerably increased their efficiency at 
the front. 

No baggage or supply trains were ever seen. When a 
detachment was moved from one point of the country to an- 
other it would be followed, perhaps by a buffalo sledge or a 
carromato or two with a few extra rifles and possibly the of- 
ficers' kit, and that was all. Some of the men had small bun- 
dles but the majority carried rifle and cartridge boxes only. 
They needed no tents for they pitched no camp but scattered 
through the bamboo and occupied the native huts which are 
everywhere as thick as toadstools and they got their rations 
where they happened to be. This method of life is possible, 
of course, for the native alone, for no white man could exist 
on the food they flourish on or long resist the many diseases 
which prey on all foreigners who do not keep up the habit 
of taking strong nourishment, and, moreover, plenty of ex- 
ercise. 

There was a small variety of pests in fhe way of insect life 
in the camp, and those noxious creatures of which we had 
read so much about in the magazine articles did not material- 
ize to any great extent. There were no mosquitoes and very 
few flies, but the red ants made up in numbers and activity 
for the absence of other crawling things. Everywhere in the 
Philippines the ants swarm in enormous quantities and ac- 
tive armies of them are always on the move, crawling in a 
5 65 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

busy line around the windows, up the walls, along the floors 
and massing in all the most unexpected corners. In camp 
one of these hostile expeditions would suddenly appear 
crawling up the posts of the bamboo platforms and then the 
only thing to do was to turn out everything and to arrange 
the uprights in tomato cans half filled with water or, better, 
with petroleum. The small red ants have a vicious sting and 
are exceedingly active in their attacks, causing their victim 
to dance suddenly with a fiery sensation on many parts of 
his body at once. The frogs were the greatest nuisance of 
all for, although they neither bit nor stung nor crawled over 
the person, they were the cause of many a sleepless hour. 
The moment it began to rain, particularly at night, they im- 
mediately set up a most deafening noise and made a racket 
out of all proportion to their size, for they were tiny 
translucent things quite innocent in appearance. They were 
silent and invisible until the rain began and then they sprang 
into existence on all sides, by choice under the bamboo plat- 
forms where they kept up a strident and irritating chorus 
quite deafening and loud enough to make conversation im- 
possible. In Manila I have known them to make so much 
noise in a shower that I could not hear my pony's footstep 
on the pavement. 

The camp was very early astir. Long before sunrise the 
first bugle calls sounded and there was certainly not light 
enough to dress by when the blare of these instruments shat- 
tered the morning air with a medley of unpleasant sounds 
which, judging from our own feelings, must have shocked 
the musical sense of the natives, who are gifted with a 
remarkable appreciation of harmony. The discord of the 
bugles was an effective sleep-destroyer and was always 
followed by a volley of raucous expletives echoing from the 
shadowy interiors of the headquarters tents, and, when the 
quickstep was resounding over the plain, there were accom- 
panying noises indicating hasty toilets, great splashings of 

66 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

water and a series of emphatic remarks as the wet garments 
were put on one by one and the struggle with the boots be- 
gan. Breakfast in the general's mess was promptly at seven 
and his colored servant let no laggard dally too long over 
his matutinal polish but worried him into habits of punc- 
tuality at meals. I hope that no one will notice that I do 
not speak of the bill of fare. 

The dress parade of the different regiments was the great 
popular event of the day in camp and never ceased to be of 
the greatest interest, for the dramatic elements of the cere- 
mony were impressive and inspiriting. Crowds of natives 
assembled near the parade grounds and marveled at the 
brown clad giants who had come from that far off republic, 
a country as vague and mysterious to their comprehension 
as if it were a part of another planet. Stalwart and hearty 
specimens of manhood were these soldiers and our hearts 
throbbed with admiration and patriotic fervor as we 
watched them march out with vigorous step and form the 
line. The warm haze of the tropical atmosphere glorified 
the landscape and the setting sun gilded the feathery tops of 
the bamboo and the symmetrical branches of the palm trees 
and made the dense foliage of the great manga trees vibrate 
with contrasting tones of violet shadows and orange lights. 
The Stars and Stripes flew from a tall bamboo in the head- 
quarters camp, and as the band played the "Star-spangled 
Banner" and the flag was lowered, every one remembered 
the significance of the emblem and felt individually responsi- 
ble for the perpetuation of the great idea it represented. We 
uncovered our heads with undisguised emotion, moved by 
the universal sentiment. The natives, too, began to learn 
that this ceremony was no perfunctory duty and we of the 
spectators who were among them took pains to impress upon 
them that they also should respect the flag as we did and they 
soon took off their hats whenever the national anthem was 
played. 

67 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Quite as impressive in another way was the mass cele- 
brated in the open air by Father McKinnon, chaplain of the 
First California Regiment, under the shade of a wide spread- 
ing tree. There hundreds of devout soldiers knelt in prayer 
and the soft murmur of the foliage was the harmonious ac- 
companiment of nature to the pleasant voice of the priest. 

Out of consideration for the natives who frequented the 
beach which was practically the village street, sea-bathing 
was prohibited except early in the morning and late in the 
evening. The tide rose but once a day, and at high water 
when the wind was strong, the waves dashed over the roots 
of the trees and flooded the adjacent low places so that the 
beach was impassable. At all other times it was a busy 
promenade and our favorite diversion was to walk there and 
watch for the Monterey for it came to be known that no ad- 
vance would be made until the squadron was reinforced by 
this impregnable vessel. Manila, when the air was clear, 
seemed almost within rifle shot and was always interesting 
to study. The flags of different nationalities flying over the 
houses along the shore, the fleet of foreign war vessels and 
the constant coming and going between them and the town 
encouraged constant speculation on the condition of things 
inside the Spanish defences. 



CHAPTER V 

The quartermasters had novel and unexpected difficulties 
to contend with and situations, never contemplated by the 
compilers of that wonderful code of laws, the Army Regu- 
lations, continually obtruded themselves and had to be met 
often in a way which was not a gentle shock to the conven- 
tionalities of the system. The separation of the Commissariat 
and the Quartermaster's Department is, I am convinced, 
a great mistake and, under any circumstances, adds greatly 
to the complications of supplying an army. Even in the brief 
campaign near Manila where the situation, although by no 
means simple, presented no extraordinary difficulties, this 
fact was certainly prominent. In the British service, in case 
of movement of troops by sea, the navy takes entire charge 
of the transportation from high water mark at the point of 
departure to high water mark at the landing-place, and the 
army quartermaster has nothing to do but to carry on his 
regular and accustomed duties on shore. With us it is en- 
tirely different. The transports were hired, fitted up and 
loaded and the troops embarked and landed by the Quarter- 
master's Department. 

At Cavite the chief quartermaster, Colonel Pope, had, fig- 
uratively speaking, not a leg to stand on. He was absolutely 
without means of transportation and, for a time, could not 
procure so much as a row boat for his own use. The first 
expedition under General Thomas M. Anderson had taken 
quarters at Cavite, and the second under General Francis V. 
Greene had successfully landed at Tambo, at a point well 
within range of the enemy's guns, by the way, some six 
miles by sea and sixteen by land from Cavite. Both these 

69 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

landings were made while the weather was fine and with- 
out an accident of any kind. Commodore Dewey provided a 
captured Spanish tug-boat, absurdly misnamed the Rapido, 
which was used to tow the cascos to the shore. Landing at 
Cavite was, of course, possible in all weathers, but at Tambo 
it depended on the direction and strength of the wind and 
sometimes for days together not even an outrigger canoe 
could live in the sea of the bay and no boat could run the 
line of breakers along the beach. It readily occurs to any one 
that an obvious provision against complete isolation of Camp 
Dewey in bad weather would have been to open communi- 
cations by way of the land and if we had been facing an ac- 
tive enemy this would have been done of necessity. The 
road was certainly bad, but it was always passable and al- 
though the carromatos were light and small and bore no re- 
semblance whatever to the conventional army wagon they 
were the only vehicles except the buffalo sledge which it 
would have been practicable to employ on the muddy high- 
ways for there were no mules or horses to be had and small 
ponies alone were in use. Compared with camel transport a 
carromato train would be most satisfactory. The only thing 
to be considered was the number of carts, which after all 
would not have been so enormous, as we found later when 
all the stores were hauled from Paranaque to camp in carra- 
matos. 

There was no field telegraph with the first and second ex- 
peditions and no line was run from Cavite to the camp until 
about two weeks after we arrived. This delay was due, first, 
to the fact that the transport which brought the material was 
among those which followed us and, second, to the impossi- 
bility of unloading the wire and other articles until some of 
the cargo had been sent ashore. The only communication 
with the camp was therefore, in the case of heavy weather, 
by means of signalling. There was always anchored quite 
near the beach the small captured gunboat Callao and, some 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

distance farther out, one of the cruisers was posted as a 
guard-ship, and in case of emergency these vessels were to 
transmit signals from the signal-station on the beach to the 
Olympia, whence the message would be sent to General 
Merritt, whose headquarters remained on the Newport. 
Fortunately nothing serious resulted from this isolation. 

The insurgents possessed all the private steam launches 
with the exception of the Canacao Which Commodore Dewey 
courteously put at the disposition of General Merritt and 
the Albany which Mr. Reid and I controlled. After various 
ineffectual attempts to secure means of water transportation, 
Colonel Pope finally persuaded the insurgents to part with 
one of their numerous launches and when it appeared it was 
plainly evident why they consented to let it go. It was an 
open boat, overladen with a boiler and engine which were 
insecurely fixed in place and, altogether, she was as danger- 
ous a craft as ever navigated the bay. She lasted but a few 
days and then swamped. Fortunately, Colonel Pope was 
not on board at the time although he had risked his life on 
many perilous trips in the boat. 

The Rapido belonged to the navy and would take no or- 
ders from the army except through the proper officer of the 
fleet. This we discovered on one occasion when General 
Merritt directed Colonel Pope to secure her in order to take 
some sick men ashore from the transports. We had the tem- 
porary loan of the Canacao and started to head off the 
Rapido, which was towing some cascos in the direction of 
the camp. It was Colonel Pope's intention to order the cap- 
tain of the tug to anchor the cascos and make a trip or two 
to Cavite with the invalids. The captain paid no attention 
to our energetic signals, but ran some distance before we 
ranged alongside and he slowed down. After some prelimi- 
nary conversation which was rather staccato in movement, 
the captain yelled : 

"Who in the devil are you, anyhow ?" 

7i 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

"I'm Colonel Pope, chief quartermaster," was the reply. 

"To hell with the Pope!" came back the sonorous retort. 
"I take my orders from Commodore Dewey. Get out of 
my way or I'll swamp you !" And he went on at full speed 
before we could get our boathook out of his rail, and we 
retired disconcerted and chagrined. This incident does not 
go to show that the navy was not ready and willing to assist 
the army at all times but only indicates the method of co- 
operation which was in practice. Of course I could only 
judge from the outside what were the official relations be- 
tween the two branches. There was undoubtedly only one 
main object in view — namely, to finish up the job as expedi- 
tiously and with as little loss of life as possible. The side 
issues were that the navy had a record to keep up of not 
having lost a man or having a ship damaged, and the army 
had to have a chance to stretch its legs and square its shoul- 
ders and to make a reputation. Whether there was any ne- 
cessity of a demonstration by land is another question which 
every one can settle for himself. My own opinion on that 
point is unalterable and the only argument I heard against 
the value of logical deduction from facts as they stood, which 
is worth repeating, is an epitomized statement of the case 
from the purely military point of view. In the course of a 
long discussion in which I stoutly maintained the opinion 
that Manila could have been taken without the loss of a man 
by a threatened bombardment and the quiet landing of a 
force of occupation, an officer of high rank said with not a 
little acrimony : 

"That would have been ridiculous! It is absolutely op- 
posed to precedent and to military principles that a town 
should be captured in that way. When land and naval 
forces are in combined action, the army must conduct its op- 
erations ashore." 

A whole carromato train could have been driven through 
this argument but I saw I was trespassing and although I 

72 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

had the support of several of the officers present, I preferred 
to drop the subject. 

The officers of the two services were the best of friends 
and if the army did not get all the help it needed it was be- 
cause there was no distinct and definite request made for as- 
sistance. From the point of view of an outside observer it 
seemed as if there was a disinclination on the part of the 
army to ask the navy for favors as if it were derogatory 
to the dignity of the older branch of the service, and that it 
was only done as a last resort. There were many ways in 
which the sailors could have been of incalculable assistance. 
For example, it happened that most of the soldiers were from 
the West and from interior states and consequently unfa- 
miliar with boating. The surfmen at the camp landing were 
mountaineers, many of whom had never handled an oar, 
They managed the operation with the greatest good will and 
a tireless and enthusiastic spirit which largely made up for 
their lack of practice. Landing in the surf requires sound 
acquaintance with the management of a boat and it could not 
be expected of these landsmen that the experience of a sin- 
gle week could convert them into trained sailors. They sel- 
dom came ashore without half filling their boats, from sheer 
inability to keep the bow to the breaking surf, and soon 
nearly all the boats were stove and lost. They were cumber - 
some and heavy affairs, originally belonging to the Spanish 
fleet, but were not ill adapted to the work. . 

Whenever a rowboat from the navy landed in the surf it 
was a great object lesson to the soldiers for she came riding 
in like a duck and ran up on the beach without shipping a 
drop of water. Skilful boatmen would have spared the sol- 
diers much trying exposure and prevented the loss of quan- 
tities of valuable material. I was told by one of the quar- 
termasters that he made a personal request to the commodore 
for the loan of some launches, which was granted so cheer- 
fully that he was almost emboldened to ask for a detail 

73 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

of surf boatmen, but refrained as he did not wish to ride a 
free horse to death. 

A suggestion for the construction of a landing stage on the 
beach was made to General Merritt shortly after his own ex- 
perience on the shore and he ordered one to be built. There 
were a number of large iron lighters loaded with stone an- 
chored near the wharf at Cavite and somewhere there was 
said to be a large quantity of deck planking. Here, then, 
was just the material which would appeal to an experienced 
engineer like the officer who took it in charge, who was ac- 
customed to deal with solid masses and heavy weights. 

The original suggestion was that a bamboo structure 
should be erected, similar in all important details to the ones 
which project far out into the shallow water off Malate and 
resist the action of the sea and wind by reason of their flexi- 
ble construction, their height above the water and the little 
resistance which the bamboo piles offer to the waves. If 
this had been done a landing could have been made in all 
weathers, not perhaps the landing of heavy material when 
the sea was running very high, but a small boat could al- 
ways have deposited its passengers there in safety. This 
scheme for a bamboo wharf was rejected and a project for 
building a solid pier, or rather a solid pier end with a shore 
connection built of timber, was adopted and preliminary 
steps were taken to carry it out. The commodore gave per- 
mission to use the lighters for this purpose and the lumber 
was forthcoming. It is all very well to have material if you 
have not got the tools, and a trifling defect in the arrange- 
ments nipped this enterprise in the bud and we had no land- 
ing after all. To make a start, one of the lighters was towed 
across the bay and anchored near the spot chosen for the po- 
sition of the caisson. The usual afternoon blow came up 
and her ground tackle would not hold. She drifted inshore 
and was rescued only with the greatest toil and difficulty. 
It was then seen that even if the caisson was built of the 

74 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

two sunken lighters the combined force of the tide and the 
waves would doubtless break it up in one day and besides 
that it would probably not be finished until after the town 
was captured. The permission to use the lighters, I believe, 
was withdrawn after this first attempt, and nothing more 
was heard of the plan. 

Meanwhile the landing of men and supplies went on at 
the beach and with constantly increasing danger, for the 
monsoon blew stronger and stronger every day. It was 
usually quiet enough in the morning when the Rapido towed 
back to Cavite the empty cascos, but somehow the landings 
were almost always made in the afternoon when there was 
sure to be a blow. 

The final important landing on the beach was made after 
the arrival of the transports of our expedition when five 
companies of the Fourteenth and four companies of the 
Twenty-third Regulars were sent over from Cavite, and the 
Rapido, with a string of five cascos in tow, arrived off the 
camp in the height of a gale. Each boat was full of cargo 
and black with men, and we watched them with some anx- 
iety as, one by one, the great unwieldly hulks were dropped 
off the line and swung into the breakers. The ground tack- 
les held for a short time then one casco suddenly parted her 
cable and she drifted rapidly ashore, broadside on, with the 
heavy seas breaking over her from stem to stern. The mat 
awnings vanished and then the bamboo platforms along the 
sides and when she struck the bottom she was a wild con- 
fused mass of human beings, timbers, boxes and seething 
waters. Many of the men were seen to strip off their clothes 
before she struck and plunge into the water and swim for it 
and, when the shock of grounding came, scores tumbled over 
the sides and waded ashore. She thumped and rolled and 
began to go to pieces at once and it seemed impossible for 
the men to escape injury from the floating boxes and wreck- 
age dashed about by the waves. She was soon hard and fast 

75 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and all the men were safely ashore except a few who re- 
mained to struggle with bales and packages which had not 
been washed out of the hold. Almost before she was de- 
serted, wood details from the camp swooped down upon her 
shattered carcass and in a few minutes she was distributed 
piecemeal among the camp fires and nothing remained but 
her enormous keel, which resisted the attacks of the axemen 
for hours after the tide went down. The second and third 
cascos had rather better luck, as the crews managed to keep 
them head on and they grounded in the proper way, one at 
least being got off at the next tide. But they were filled with 
water immediately after they struck, and the men and all 
their paraphernalia were as wet as if they had been at the 
bottom of the sea. 

The first man to come ashore was a bandsman with his 
great tuba and, as he waded through the surf holding the 
shining instrument high above his head, sometimes smoth- 
ered with foam, with no part of him visible but his extended 
arms, he looked like some strange sea-god of classical fable. 
Profiting by the example of their comrades on the first casco, 
many of the men now took off their clothes, bunched them 
up and, with the bundle in one hand and rifle and equipments 
in the other waded ashore. Often an extra heavy wave 
would wrest the bundles from their grasp, but they always 
managed to come ashore with rifle and ammunition. 

This instinctive care of weapons reminded me of a 
somewhat parallel experience in the lower Danube during 
the Russo-Turkish campaign. We were crossing the river 
just above the Turkish lines in two flatboats heavily laden 
with men and stores. A strong wind was blowing up stream 
and, meeting the rapid current, raised a nasty sea which 
swamped one of the boats in shorts order. We were so busy 
with saving our own skins that we were unable to help, and 
all in the other boat were lost except one man whom we saw 
bobbing down the river holding his rifle in his right hand. 

76 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Sometime after we landed this man turned up, having just 
managed to reach the shore. We asked him why he did not 
throw away his rifle to give himself a better chance. 

"What should I have done if I had got ashore inside the 
Turkish lines without my rifle ?" was his reply. 

On the Tambo beach that day the brigade quartermaster, 
Major Jones, a man of extraordinary energy and tireless ac- 
tivity, was seen everywhere in the confusion of waters, help- 
ing this one to struggle ashore, directing those who had not 
yet left the boat and generally making heroic efforts to min- 
imize the extent of the disaster. The shore near the landing 
presented as strange a panorama as the one described in the 
romantic episode of the capture of Lung Tung Pen. Stal- 
wart men, as naked as they were born, wandered around 
among the natives quite unconscious and casual, hopeless of 
recovering from the greedy waters anything to cover them- 
selves with. Here a half-drowned man was led along by his 
comrades toward the hospital, there a bedraggled warrior 
was preoccupied with an elementary toilet, vainly trying to 
haul on his soaked garments. Others were hanging their 
wet clothes on the bushes to dry ; careful men were already 
cleaning their rifles, and those who had not shed their gar- 
ments were helping the natives carry the stores out of reach 
of the rising tide. Everything was thoroughly drenched, 
even the company chests with the books and papers, and all 
stores which were not in water-tight tin cases were spoiled. 
The general appeared on the scene, and it was a ludicrous 
caricature of military etiquette the picture of a literally un- 
uniformed soldier at the salute as this officer passed. A 
knapsack was quite full dress on this occasion. For an hour 
afterwards tall white nudities were seen straggling away off 
among the tents seeking the camp ground assigned to the 
detachment just landed. 

After this incident, Paranaque was chosen as a landing 
place, both because it was within a mile and a half of camp, 

77 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and because a river entered the bay at that point. This river 
was navigable for cascos and small craft as far as the bridge 
of the Camino Real, a quarter of a mile or more above the 
mouth, and made a quiet little harbor, provided, of course, 
the bar could be crossed. 

I happened to be trying to land here from the Albany with 
Major Thompson and some men of the Signal Corps, on the 
afternoon, when a battalion of the Thirteenth Minnesota 
Regiment was going ashore, and as the launch drew too 
much water to cross the bar we were obliged to go farther 
up the beach to Bacoor in the lee of Cavite point. Colonel 
Pope had managed to hire a side-wheeler called the 
Kwonghoi, which shabby craft had little that was shipshape 
about her except the name in gilded Chinese characters, but 
was a most useful adjunct to the meagre appliances under 
control of the Quartermaster's Department. She was an- 
chored just outside the line of breakers, and three small navy 
launches, each with a large row boat in tow, were making 
frequent trips between the steamer and the shore. The sea 
was very high and breaking heavily on the bar, and on 
each trip it seemed absolutely certain that the boats would 
come to grief for the one in tow was jerked along, sometimes 
almost broadside on and again they would both disappear 
entirely in the trough of the sea, and then rise again against 
the sky. The expert sailors were familiar with this sort of 
work, and only one boat was swamped during the operation. 
The officer in command of the troops — Colonel Reeve, I think 
it was — with admirable forethought, insisted that a case of 
hardtack should be taken ashore in each boat, because, as he 
said, he was not going to let his men land as some others had 
done with no rations for the night and no prospect of getting 
any. This extra load proved to be no handicap, and the en- 
terprising officer put in more and more each time until the 
row boats were half full of boxes as well as crowded with 
men. In this way the detachment reached camp with all 

78 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

their outfit and several days' rations intact. This landing 
was one of the most successful of all, and was managed by 
Major Wads worth, a volunteer quartermaster. 

Bacoor, as I have just suggested, was by far the best land- 
ing place, on account of its sheltered position, and this is 
probably one reason why Aguinaldo selected it as his head- 
quarters. The sea did not run heavily near shore and a 
native dugout could weather the breakers in any gale short 
of a typhoon. It had the disadvantage, however, of being 
about six miles from camp, and the road was none too good 
between Bacoor and Parafiaque, Ala j or Jones, who had hired 
a large number of carromatos and ponies, and had an ex- 
tensive corral at Camp Dewey, put a large force of natives at 
work on this road, corduroying it in some places with bam- 
boo and draining it wherever it was practicable, so that it 
was kept in a fairly satisfactory condition. The insurgent 
and native traffic over this road was far more active than our 
own, but they made no recognizable effort to assist in this 
enterprise. The work was not carried out very thoroughly, 
probably because the inevitable fall of the town was immi- 
nent. Between Parafiaque and camp the road was much bet- 
ter, and was generally as crowded as Broadway on a spring 
afternoon, with strings of carromatos laden with stores, with 
an endless procession of armed insurgents and groups of our 
soldiers always on the move. Parafiaque is quite a large vil- 
lage, mostly of bamboo and nipa huts, but with a goodly 
number of substantially built houses and a large and pictur- 
esque church riddled with Spanish shells. Bacoor is much 
more of a town, but rather knocked about by the numerous 
fights which have taken place there. We had a few men of 
the Signal Corps stationed near the shore at the latter place, 
but it was not considered necessary to occupy the village with 
any significant force. Besides, we were on terms of amicable 
enmity with the insurgents and this their special covert. 

The routine of the Quartermaster's Department did not, I 

79 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

am free to say, interest us enough to tempt me to pay much 
attention to the workings of the organization, except to no- 
tice the trouble which constantly arose from the separation of 
it from the Commissariat. Then, too, criticism was often dis- 
armed by the enthusiasm and energy which every one put 
into his appointed task. In the cool light of the perspective 
of time, I fancy the ultimate judgment of those among us 
who most criticised this department would now be that the 
chief difficulty lay in the status of this branch of the service, 
and in the unwillingness to invite the extensive co-operation 
of the navy. My previous experience in war had fixed in my 
mind the notion that the quartermaster-in-chief was the most 
important man in the outfit ; that he was an independent auto- 
crat who had practically unrestricted powers to carry on his 
work; that he could employ public funds at discretion, 
requisition anything which was of vital importance and, in 
general terms, use any means within reason to perform the 
task on which the efficiency of the army absolutely depended. 
I never had the heart to search that wonderful book, the 
Army Regulations, for an exact definition of the status of 
this department in our army, but from my own observations 
I concluded that it had less authority than in any other army 
with which I have been associated. 

It is quite possible that some requisitions may have been 
made on the natives for labor, for supplies or for transport, 
but I never happened to hear of any. I know that at Camp 
Dewey Major Jones had considerable difficulty in hiring 
carromatos and transport animals, and the natives would 
often escape him after they had only carried out part of their 
contract, knowing that no penalty was attached to this act. 
There were plenty of natives ready to work, and each morn- 
ing at daybreak there assembled a motley gang of several 
hundred near this officer's tent. They were marshalled up, 
and all those who had bolas or any other effective culling in- 
strument or any agricultural implement suitable for road 

80 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

repairing, were hired at fifty Mexican cents a day, about 
three times the ordinary wages. The only shovels and pick- 
axes in camp were those few which belonged to the different 
organizations. There were over ten thousand entrenching 
tools in the transport Morgan City, but these were not landed 
until a day or two before the capture of the town. Neither 
were the much needed sand bags brought ashore until the 
very last. 

Major Jones, with characteristic enterprise, established an 
open air manufactory of bamboo platforms for the tents, and 
a score or more of native carpenters were always at work, 
cutting and slashing at green bamboo poles, preparing the 
different pieces and lashing them together with rattan. I 
learned the advantage of occupying a tent with an officer, for 
after trying in vain to hire some one to build us a platform, 
large and strong enough to hold my colossal tentmate and 
myself, I found one day a fine structure of extra strength in 
place under the canvas. 

I asked Colonel Potter how he managed to get this made. 

"R. H. I. P. !" was his answer, with an amused expression. 
(Rank has its privileges.) 

In a few days most of us succeeded in buying ponies at 
war prices from the natives, and we had quite a collection of 
sturdy little animals and a curiosity shop of old junk which 
passed for saddles and bridles. The Filipino ponies are very 
small and stocky, and have considerable endurance, although 
not so much, I am sure, as they have the credit for. Nearly 
all those in general use are stallions, and they are generally 
tremendous fighters, kicking and biting one another vi- 
ciously, although quiet enough to ride and drive. It has been 
a favorite entertainment of the inhabitants, both white and 
native, to pit the most vicious of these brutes against one 
another in the ring, a sport quite as edifying as cock-fighting 
and much less conventional. The price for ordinary ponies 
before the occupation was from $25 to $50 in Mexican cur- 
6 81 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

rency, but the value rose at once after the demand for them 
began, and we seldom got them for less than double these 
figures. We never saw or heard of any Filipino cavalry, and 
the Spaniards had only a very small force of mounted men. 



CHAPTER VI 

From my account of the inspection of the lines by General 
Merritt and General Greene the day after we arrived, it will 
be gathered that the insurgents occupied all the available 
strategic points along the front as far as we went, and the 
problem, since General Merritt promptly and wisely decided 
that the advance must be made over the territory near the 
bay, was/how to get possession of that part of the insur- 
gents' lines nearest the shore without complicating relations 
with Aguinaldo, whom the general was determined to ignore. 
This was unquestionably the best field of operations, for it 
did not require a change of base and had the inestimable ad- 
vantage of lying in full range of the guns of the fleet. 

On the afternoon of the 28th, General Greene received a 
verbal message from General Merritt suggesting that he jug- 
gle the insurgents out of part of their lines, always on his 
own responsibility and without committing in any way the 
commanding general to any recognition of the native leaders 
or opening up the prospect of an alliance. This General 
Greene accomplished very cleverly, dealing with the natives 
exactly in accordance with their own methods. He sent for 
General Noriel who commanded the force on the extreme 
left, who promptly responded to the polite summons. He 
then, after the usual interchange of courtesies, called atten- 
tion to the fact that, at the point directly opposite the Spanish 
fort, San Antonio de Abad, the strongest position of the en- 
emy's lines, there was no artillery in place except an obsolete 
ship's gun which, although of large calibre, was absolutely 
ineffective, as it had not inflicted the slightest damage on the 
Spanish defences, even if it had ever touched them at all. 

83 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

This statement the visitor agreed with. Then General 
Greene proceeded to explain how much more it would be to 
the advantage of the besieging parties if the fine batteries of 
modern guns which were lying idle in Camp Dewey should 
be posted there, which would be promptly done if the in- 
surgents gave permission to occupy the left of their line for 
about four hundred yards east of the shore and across the 
Camino Real. 

General Noriel expressed himself in accordance with this 
view of the situation, and was ready to withdraw from that 
part of the front provided Aguinaldo would consent to it. At 
the close of the interview he said he would telegraph imme- 
diately, requesting authority to make this concession. 

The reply he received from the astute leader was probably 
unfavorable, for he sent his chief of staff post haste to 
Bacoor to present the case verbally. About half past two in 
the morning that officer came back bringing the desired con- 
sent with a condition attached that General Greene must 
give a written receipt for the entrenchments handed over to 
him. This looked very much like a bargain concluded over 
a signature, and was a little more formal than General 
Greene thought advisable. He agreed, however, to write 
Aguinaldo on the following day and, meanwhile, as there 
was question of only a simple formality, he proposed to oc- 
cupy the desired position in the early morning in order to 
save time. General Noriel made no objection to this ar- 
rangement and, consequently, at eight o'clock on the follow- 
ing day, one battalion of the Eighteenth Regulars, one bat- 
talion of the First Colorado Volunteers, and two guns from 
each of the Utah Light Batteries, were moved up to the front 
and the natives retired from their positions there without 
protest. 

I understood at the time that General Greene sent Agui- 
naldo a carefully worded letter stating that he had occupied a 
specified part of the line, but I cannot vouch for the exact 

84 




FRANCIS V. GREENE 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

text of the communication. The insurgents were thus beaten 
at their own game, and our front was established exactly 
where we wished it without antagonizing our neighbors and 
without committing ourselves to anything except to defend 
the position we had occupied. 

The earthworks at this point consisted of a shallow ditch 
about seventy-five yards long, dug straight across an open 
meadow between the border of trees along the shore and the 
Camino Real, with a platform and shelter near the middle of 
the low embankment where a small post had been stationed. 
Further, alongside the road to the west, was a small and 
rudely constructed embrasure in a clump of large bamboos, 
where the ship's gun was mounted, and down the road, a few 
yards nearer the enemy, a covered rifle pit. From all this 
part of the line the stone fort and the sandbag breastworks 
of the enemy were in plain sight across an open territory 
which was broken by a few small trees and covered with a 
tangle of long grass, reeds and undergrowth. East of the 
highway, which up to this point ran between dense bamboo 
hedges, there was, first, a narrow marsh quite surrounded 
by trees, then a bamboo thicket with an occasional hut and 
small garden and a succession of small jungles reaching as 
far as an impassable swale w ! hich extended southward 
nearly to the Pasay crossroad and was nowhere nearer the 
shore than twelve hundred yards. 

The northern end of this morass was crossed by a stone 
dam, directly in front of the Spanish Blockhouse Fourteen, 
and here was posted the enemy's most advanced picket. 
Through the region just described the insurgents had an oc- 
casional small rifle pit, and they were established in several 
huts which happened to have stone foundations, which made 
an excellent protection. Our lines were gradually extended 
through this whole region, although it was not in the original 
concession, and extensive earthworks were constructed at 
various points. 

s 5 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

About one hundred and twenty-five yards in front of the 
ditch first spoken of, stood a white house of two stories, the 
lower one of brick and the upper one of bamboo wattle and 
stucco, with usual shell windows on all sides and a spacious 
belvedere on the roof. From this building an excellent view 
could be had over the whole ground in front almost as far 
to the east as Blockhouse Fourteen, and the Spanish lines, 
only eight hundred and fifty yards away, were plainly visible 
to the extent of nearly a thousand yards. The house con- 
tains a large chapel in which, among other things, was a 
large wooden statue said to be of Saint Francis, and from 
this circumstance it was commonly and erroneously called 
the Capuchin Convent. Among the trees near the beach 
were two other residences, one which had been the summer 
resort of an Englishman residing in Manila, and hence 
wrongly called by the soldiers the English Club, and the 
other had been formerly occupied by a Spanish merchant. 
In the first of these two houses was a piano in fairly good 
order, the only piece of furniture left except a fine green- 
glazed Shanghai bath tub, ornamented with figures in relief. 
This little settlement was called Maytubig. No apparent 
reason existed for the location of the insurgent earthworks, 
and General Greene decided at once to build a new and more 
solid entrenchment to extend on one side of the white house, 
past a small hut and to the beach where stood a garden gate, 
spoken of before, and where the great iron lighter was 
stranded on the beach, and in the other direction to cross 
the Camino Real and terminate at the edge of the marsh or 
swale. The great difficulty in constructing the breastwork 
was the character of the soil, which was a light, friable loam, 
and almost impossible to stack without the use of sandbags, 
which had not yet been landed from the transport. More- 
over, water was found within sixteen inches of the surface, 
and, in order to make an embankment of proper height, the 
top of the ground had to be taken off to the depth of a spade 

86 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and carried to the pile. The clods of turf obtained in this 
way made it practicable to build the breastwork very nearly 
right in profile, although a heavy shower would wash down 
a great deal of it. The gun embrasures, two on each side of 
the house, were built by using revetments of bamboo poles. 

I went up to the lines shortly after daybreak on the morn- 
ing after the occupation, in company with Captain Mott, who 
was temporarily attached to General Greene's staff, and 
Lieutenant Shieffelin, the general's aide-de-camp. The 
Colorado battalion, under Colonel McCoy, had not been re- 
lieved, and the men looked none the worse for their hard 
labor of the last twenty hours. The officers and soldiers 
were alert, cheerful and full of energy, and naturally not a 
little proud of their achievement, which was really extraor- 
dinary and worthy of all praise. They had moved thou- 
sands of cubic yards of earth, and had practically completed 
a breastwork nearly two hundred yards long and about five 
feet above the general level between the beach and the white 
house, besides making a beginning towards the road. The 
Utah men had thrown aside the ship's gun, and two of their 
pieces were temporarily placed in position in the little insur- 
gent earthwork. There was some desultory firing that morn- 
ing, but none to hurt, and the Spaniards had made no real 
attempt to prevent the construction of the new entrench- 
ment, although it was in plain view and in easy range of 
their guns. The music of a bullet would frequently be 
heard, and we were told to go along round-shouldered, but 
our men were not replying to the fire, although they were 
much tempted to christen their Springfields. Just as we 
were leaving, a tall Colorado man with the eye of a born 
hunter said to an officer : — 

"For God's sake let me have a shot at that fellow !" point- 
ing at the same time in the direction from which a bullet ap- 
peared to come at frequent intervals. "Go ahead and kill 
him if you can!" was the reply. The soldier's expression 

87 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

was a study. He crawled up on the parapet and watched as 
one watches a deer, apparently expecting to catch sight of 
his enemy, somewhere near by in the bamboo. The chances 
were that it was only some restless picket who was firing at 
the white house on general principles. 

We were out that morning on a tour of general inspection 
along the front as far as the insurgents would permit us to 
go, and it happened that a so-called attack had been planned 
by the natives, to come off at eight o'clock. After leaving 
our front we were obliged, being mounted, to retrace our 
steps a short distance and follow one of the many lanes in the 
thicket in order to reach a point where the insurgents had a 
large bronze gun which they were continually letting off 
day and night. We found this gun in position in a much 
overgrown lane running north and south. Fifty or sixty 
men were scattered about in the thicket near by, and the gun 
crew were engaged in loading, The young officer in charge 
received us most courteously, and after he had sighted the 
piece, I asked him what he was firing at. 

"Singalong," he answered, pointing to the north. 

Looking in that direction, I could see nothing but a tangle 
of bamboo, much cut and broken by shot and shell, and could 
discover no opening in the screen of small branches and 
smooth boles. 

"Where is Singalong?" I asked. 

"Oh, just over yonder!" he said, and prepared to fire. 

Following the example of the others, we crouched on the 
ground, not quite knowing what was going to happen. The 
only protection in front of the gun was a low bank of earth 
perhaps three feet high. We sat, as it happened, behind a 
pile of powder bags which were stacked near a small clump 
of bamboo and covered with a mat. 

The shell went tearing through the treetops and we heard 
it burst in the distance. In a half minute, as if by precon- 
certed arrangement, a return compliment came flying over 

88 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

us. Immediately, without orders, the whole party sprang 
up and fired a ragged volley into the landscape and then 
crouched down again. This was answered by a perfect 
swarm of Mauser bullets which cracked in the bamboo like 
revolver shots, or went singing away to the rear to stir up 
our pickets there. Then the natives began to fire at will, and 
a sharp fusillade was kept up for a time on both sides. At 
last it gradually died away and stopped entirely. The offi- 
cer loaded the gun again and all sat down and lighted cigar- 
ettes. 

We now had an opportunity of examining the piece which 
was of bronze, with ornamental scrollwork on trunnions 
and body, and with a breech like a modern Krupp. It was 
marked "14 centimetres," numbered "3670," and inscribed: 
"Barcelona, 19 de Abril, 1803. Fondicion de Artilleria de 
Sevilla. Transformado in 1877." On the trunnions were 
the words, "Bronzes refundidos," and near the muzzle in 
an ornamental scroll, "Originario." It certainly deserved 
the latter title* 

During the lull which succeeded this flutter, we jogged 
along the narrow byways towards the Pasay road, which 
leads from the village of that name to Paco, by way of the 
village of Singalong. As we proceeded we heard the na- 
tives calling out from their hiding places among the bushes : 
"Bombast senor. Bombast" to warn us that shells were 
flying here, but we saw nobody until we came to a rifle pit 
built alongside the Pasay road, and half across it, next to a 
hut with a stone foundation. It was now raining and we 
took refuge with our ponies under a shed in the rear of the 
hut, in the company of a half dozen insurgents and a Spanish 
deserter who had joined their ranks. 

Across the road, perhaps a hundred yards in front of us, 
was a strong barricade, behind which was mounted on a 
heavy wooden carriage, a great columbiad, similar to the one 
near the seashore. No men were stationed there, but a 

3 9 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

dozen or more were in the rifle pit and behind the house, and 
many others were scattered through the bamboo behind the 
dense clumps. Suddenly we heard the boom of the bronze 
gun we had just left, and then a flight of shells came through 
the treetops and volleys, and a sputtering, followed in the 
same order as before, a proceeding in which all took part. 
Just before we arrived a shell had burst near by, and a small 
fragment had scored one young fellow across the chest, mak- 
ing a deep scratch four or five inches long. He was very 
proud of this, and displayed it for our benefit. To our sur- 
prise we saw no other wounded man, and it was difficult to 
understand why casualties were not frequent, there was such 
an incessant singing and cracking of bullets. 

The regular lull did not last long this time, and before we 
could mount, the racket began again and continued with very 
brief intervals for an hour or more, so we were compelled to 
lie low like the others and wait, passing the time as best we 
could with camp gossip. At last, about eleven o'clock, the 
men said it was breakfast time, and part of them started 
down the road towards Pasay. We prepared to follow, but 
while we were unhitching our ponies the fusillade began 
again, and the squad came tumbling back, laughing as if 
they had been caught in a sudden shower. We finally got 
tired of the game and weary of seeing nothing, and rode off 
down the road, quickening our pace as we heard the little 
missiles in the air, and soon dodged into Pasay, where the 
streets were deserted and everybody in shelter because some 
men had been hit there. The insurgents had about three 
hundred and fifty men in the firing line that morning, cover- 
ing a front of half a mile or more, and they wasted about 
eighty shots per man. Thus they celebrated their retirement 
from Maytubig. From the rifle pit on the roadside where 
we passed the morning, or, better, from the barricade up the 
road, it was possible to sneak through gardens and in the 
shelter of hedges up to a little hut which stood on the east 

90 



•EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

side of the road near the corner where it makes a sharp 
turn to the right. Underneath the hut there was a low em- 
bankment of earth and, crawling behind that and discreetly 
looking over, we could see Blockhouse Fourteen right oppo- 
site across an open space only one hundred and eighty yards 
distant. The number "14" on a square of tin was prominently 
displayed on the front as if to inform the besiegers that they 
must call it by its proper designation. The little structure 
was exactly like all the others which had been built in haste 
a short time before. It was two stories high, made of two- 
inch plank, and with a small cupola or lookout on the apex of 
the pointed roof. It was only about twenty-five feet square, 
and of proportionate height. The second story was pro- 
tected by a jacket of cement held in place by planks, with fre- 
quent loop holes. The lower story was half hidden by a high 
sandbag breastwork with ditch outside, and the general 
line of earthworks, which ran straight from the corner of the 
cemetery near the stone fort and was continuous with the 
exception of a break at the stream flowing from the dam 
across the morass, turned abruptly around the blockhouse at 
an acute angle and disappeared in the bamboo. Some field 
guns were in position to the east of the blockhouse. The 
works to their whole extent were provided with comfortable 
bamboo platforms and nipa shelters, and were strengthened 
every few yards by solid transverses. 

When there was no active firing it was possible to mount 
to the floor of the hut which was fixed at a height of about 
five feet from the ground on stout posts which were planted 
in the earth and extended to the eaves. The slightest noise 
or a careless exposure would draw the Spanish fire, and a 
shower of bullets at this close range would riddle the walls. 
This had been done so often that there was not a hand's 
breadth of surface which did not have one hole or more in 
it. Scores of bullets lay on the floor, where patches and 
spatters of dried blood testified to real tragedies which had 

9* 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

been enacted on this diminutive stage. I never ventured into 
this advanced place except on one occasion a few days after 
our visit to the rifle pit near by. At that time the insurgents 
were building a small masked earthwork between the hut 
and some other buildings not far off, where the Astor Bat- 
tery took their position on the day of the capture of the 
town. 

Work on the entrenchment at Maytubig continued with- 
out interruption all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and 
by that time it was finished across the road and a short dis- 
tance beyond where it terminated in a bamboo hedge running 
north and south. The four guns of the Utah batteries under 
Captains Young and Grant were in position with as good 
embrasures as it was possible to build without sand bags. 



CHAPTER VII 

On Sunday, the 31st of July, sharing the general belief 
that there would be no excitement at the front, as our men 
had orders to act strictly on the defensive and to refrain from 
firing unless they were attacked vigorously, I went aboard 
the Newport. The Albany, by arrangement with Mr. Reid, 
was to be sent for me at one o'clock, to take me back to camp. 
She did not appear at the appointed time and, as there was 
no communicating with Cavite by boat or by signal, there 
was nothing to do but to wait. At two o'clock I thought the 
delay was a piece of good luck, for the smoke of a steamer 
broke the horizon beyond Corregidor and soon our trans- 
ports came in sight, the Indiana leading and followed by the 
Morgan City, the Ohio, the City of Para, and the Valencia. 
Cheer after cheer was exchanged as the vessels, black with 
men, one by one dropped anchor and signalled to the New- 
port their brief reports of the voyage. There was no unusual 
illness and only five men had died on the trip. 

The transports were scarcely anchored before we noticed 
a great column of smoke rise from Manila somewhere in the 
direction of the business quarters, and it increased in volume 
until it seemed as if the whole district north of the Pasig 
must be on fire. Every few minutes great spurts and jets 
of flame would rise suddenly, like the eruption of a volcano, 
and the whole landscape to the north was soon hidden by a 
slowly drifting screen of black smoke. The conflagration 
lasted for three or four hours and then gradually subsided 
having spread, as far as we could judge, over a very large 
tract. 

The excitement of the afternoon so preoccupied my atten- 

93 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPINES 

tion that the non-arrival of the Albany did not worry me 
much until toward evening, when I began to suspect that the 
wily native skipper was up to some trick. It afterwards 
turned out that he had discovered, early in the morning, that 
an important bolt was missing from a part of the engine, and 
he could not move until he had got another one made. We 
had been working him too hard. 

When the sun set, I found myself a prisoner for the night, 
because no craft was permitted to move in the bay after 
dark, except the patrol boats. The evening was wet, and we 
were allowed no lights in the saloon, so we sat and chatted 
for hours in the darkness, for some reason or other feeling 
disinclined to go to bed. Shortly after eleven there was the 
sound of heavy firing at the front, and sometimes we could 
see long continued flashes among the trees, apparently at 
Maytubig. This went on until long after midnight, and then 
ceased. The trickery of the captain of the Albany had lost 
me an interesting night on shore. 

Awakened very early in the morning by an indefinable 
sense of anxiety, I took a shadowy breakfast with Colonel 
Pope, who had been ordered to go to Cavite at daybreak. I 
was, of course, only too anxious to accompany him, and we 
went on deck and watched for a launch. None appeared. 
Finally, hearing General Merritt moving about in his room, 
I went there and asked him if there was any possible means 
of communicating with Cavite, offering as an excuse for my 
early visit my anxiety to get to camp to learn about the affair 
of the night, and remarking at the same time that Colonel 
Pope, who had been directed to go ashore at daybreak, was 
unable to leave the ship for lack of transportation. He re- 
plied that there was no means of getting word to Cavite 
until the Caiiacao came, and that if I wanted to go to camp, 
I would do well to accompany General Babcock on the Con- 
cord, which was going to pick up some of General Greene's 
officers and run up to Malabon to see if it were practicable 

94 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

to land troops there. I was only too glad to accept this offer, 
and landed in the camp from the Concord about nine o'clock. 

The following day there was a signal service established 
between the Newport and Cavite. 

In twenty-four hours the greatest change imaginable had 
come over the men in camp. We saw and felt it the moment 
we landed, even before we had been told the story of the 
night. There was no longer that look of the excursionist 
about them. They were as restless as ever, but no one was 
playing pranks or retailing stale jokes. They were thinking 
of something else. The hospital tents, crowded with 
wounder, many of them in a bad way, were now the centre 
of interest. The operating table was still busy. The sur- 
geons were serious and preoccupied. They were half worn 
out with the labors of the night. Surgeon-Major Crosby 
and his assistants had been operating for hours, standing 
ankle deep in the water which flooded the hospital tents. 

The picnic was over. Everybody felt this, and it was a 
salutary feeling. The men were learning that war is a seri- 
ous business, which it is. Very few of those at the front 
during the night had ever been in action before. The ex- 
perience was very trying, but it made men of them. 
They could no longer be called "tin-soldiers", they felt like 
veterans, for they had stood fire, and fire in the darkness too, 
and on strange ground. 

What had happened was this: Shortly after eleven 
o'clock, in the height of a tempest, the enemy suddenly 
opened a terrific fire all along the line, with both artillery and 
infantry. The Tenth Pennsylvania Volunteers and four 
guns of the Utah Light Batteries were in the trenches. For 
a moment they did not reply, as they were ordered strictly to 
act only on the defensive, but the firing indicated a deter- 
mined effort to drive them out, and they returned it vigor- 
ously, aiming at the flashes as well as they could. The 
darkness was impenetrable, a gale was blowing and tor- 

95 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

rents of rain were falling. The men were unfamiliar with 
the ground in front of them, and few of them knew the gen- 
eral plan of the enemy's lines. The officers had maps, but 
in the storm they were of little use. All the guide they had 
was the apparent direction of the firing, and this was often 
deceptive. They expended a great deal of ammunition to 
be sure, but probably no more than the enemy, who had been 
fighting for months, but they carried themselves like veterans 
and never dreamed of yielding an inch of ground. By the 
direction of the bullets which came in great numbers from 
the right, it was believed that the Spaniards were advancing 
to attack the flank which was unprotected, the entrench- 
ment ending without a returning angle at the edge of the 
open marsh just beyond the road. When the bullets struck 
the house or the breastworks, or the bushes in front, they 
made a cracking noise like the sound of a Mauser rifle, and 
this made the men think the enemy was close at hand. In 
the darkness and storm the mistake was natural. Colonel 
Hawkins decided then to throw out a force on the right to 
meet the supposed flank movement, and Major Cuthbertson 
led E, D and K companies out into the marsh where they 
stood for a long time, exposed to a severe fire, unable even 
to see the flashes of the enemy's rifles on account of the 
screen of trees, and lost man after man. Their cartridge 
belts were almost empty, but they held their ground until it 
was evident that the enemy was not advancing. Meanwhile 
messengers were sent to the camp through a zone of fire 
seven hundred yards or more in extent, with urgent calls for 
ammunition and supports. 

When the first of these men came floundering back to the 
Pasay cross roads where H Battery of the Third Regular 
Artillery was on picket and in reserve under Lieutenant 
Krayenbuhl, that force was all ready to move to the front, 
and promptly did so, sending word back to camp that they 
had gone on. One man was wounded mortally before they 

96 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

started. The Second Battery of the same regiment, under 
Captain Hobbs, turned out as soon as the firing was heard, 
at the order of Captain O'Hara, commanding the battalion, 
and was on its way to the assistance of their comrades before 
word to move reached their camp from headquarters. 

The messengers arrived from the front, reporting that the 
Pennsylvanians were wiped out, and that the ammunition 
was gone, but that the position was still held. Carromatos 
with a fresh supply of cartridges were hurried away, and the 
hospital corps went in search of the wounded at the field hos- 
pitals already established in the trenches. The greatest ac- 
tivity prevailed in the camp, and every man was eager to be 
ordered forward, undeterred by the discouraging reports of 
the fight. 

General Greene, while he did not fully credit the somewhat 
hysterical information he received at first, knew, of course, 
that a sortie was possible, and ordered a battalion of the First 
California Volunteers into the trenches, and the remainder of 
the regiment, with the First Colorado Volunteers, to advance 
to a point just outside the danger zone, where they would be 
held in reserve. The firing became more regular and less 
continuous and slowly diminished until it ceased altogether. 
The general was in the trenches himself during the latter 
part of the trouble, and for an hour or two after, and was 
fully convinced that no sortie had been made. 

The trip of the Concord to Malabon, which was tempo- 
rarily interrupted by the visit to camp, when there was some 
delay in finding the officers to accompany the little expedi- 
tion, did not turn out to be productive of any more valuable 
results than the confirmation of the report that the bar off 
Malabon was impassable in heavy weather. We cruised 
along a mile or two from the shore, past the scene of the pre- 
vious night's conflict, past Malate, Ermita, the walled town, 
the breakwater off the mouth of the Pasig, the suburbs of 
Binondo and Tondo, successively, and up to a point in the 

7 97 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

low coast where a great area of white water marked the 
dangerous bar. Then we turned back past the fleet of for- 
eign warships to the anchorage at Cavite, and I returned to 
camp, landing this time with great difficulty, in plenty of time 
to interview the heroes of the first fight before nightfall. 

My friends of the Third gave me the most lucid and com- 
plete account of the affair, and the officers stoutly maintained 
that not a man of the enemy had left the shelter of the earth- 
works. This was also the impression of the rank and file, 
many of whom told how they had at first mistaken the crack 
of the bullets for the report of a rifle close at hand. Not 
one held out that he had caught sight of a moving object in 
front of the lines. Captain Hobbs, who bears the marks 
of the Wilderness campaign, where he was twice wounded 
seriously, had a curious experience which quite upset pre- 
vailing theories about the action of the small calibre, high- 
velocity bullet. On the way up the road, he was struck in 
the left thigh and was knocked down. Finding no wound 
and his leg not being disabled, he thought a spent ball had 
hit him, and he paid no more attention to it. The next day, 
after returning to camp, about twelve hours after the inci- 
dent, his leg felt a little stiff, so he looked to see if it had been 
bruised. A bullet had passed completely through the mus- 
cles back of the left femur, leaving only a very slight mark 
on the skin on either side of the leg. 

It is often asserted that a really brave man can have no 
imagination, but this theory had no confirmation at Camp 
Dewey. Several volunteer officers assured me that they had 
seen the Spaniards crawling about in the undergrowth within 
fifty yards of our lines, and one related, in all seriousness, 
how he went over the ground immediately in front of the 
breastworks in the early morning, and there he found great 
pools of fresh blood in the grass. The fight, as I have said, 
took place in a heavy rain which lasted for hours and half 
flooded the country. Another tale, still more extraordinary, 

9 8 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

was repeated for several weeks after and confirmed by at 
least two alleged witnesses. An officer and two friends went 
out along the Camino Real beyond the earthworks two days 
after the first affair and they counted fifty-odd dead Span- 
iards and actually brought back a skull in proof of the story. 
White ants, they asserted, had in forty-eight hours cleaned 
one skeleton entirely. This heap of slain was not more than 
fifty or sixty yards from the breastworks but no sign of the 
presence of the corpses was noticed in the lines. Imagina- 
tion or no imagination there is no doubt that the men, both 
volunteers and regulars, had the most important qualities 
which distinguish good soldiers. They were cool, determined, 
obedient and intelligent, brave even to recklessness, and took 
to fighting as naturally as barbarians. The troops at Manila 
exemplified in a most striking manner a "military paradox, 
for they were undisciplined and yet with the best possible 
discipline. By this I mean that they had not at that time ac- 
quired the training which is usually considered of prime ne- 
cessity to the soldier, but they understood the importance of 
perfect obedience to orders, knew when to take independent 
action and when to sink their individuality in the interests of 
the mass. 

All preparations were made that day for a repetition of the 
affair of the night before, and the First Colorado Volunteers 
under Colonel Hale occupied the trenches. Shortly after 
nine in the evening the firing began and went on increasing 
and diminishing in volume at intervals for an hour or more 
and then stopped. Although the men were kept fairly well 
in hand, it was absolutely impossible to prevent them, in 
their state of nervous tension, from returning the enemy's 
fire, but they were able after a little flutter to sit and take it 
calmly. The electric lights on the water-front, which had 
given the city such a festive appearance went out that even- 
ing, a circumstance which stimulated the belief that an im- 



99 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

portant movement was projected by the enemy. The Colo- 
rado men lost that night one killed and three wounded. 

It rained in torrents pretty much all night and when the 
three battalions, two from the First Nebraska Volunteers 
and one from the Eighteenth Regulars, went out to the front 
the next morning to relieve the Colorado men they had to 
wade all the way, through ankle deep mud, and found the 
trenches in a most discouraging state of miry discomfort. 
The misery of a long day of waiting with only the diversion 
of hard labor with pick-axe and shovel or the preoccupation 
of trying to keep comfortable, was not the best preparation 
for the night. When the darkness settled down so dense 
that treetops could scarcely be distinguished against the sky, 
the men naturally became hypersensitive to impressions, and 
every bush and clump of grass stirred by the wind gave a 
little start to the nerves. When the firing began that night, 
what with the darkness, the storm, and the peculiar cracking 
of the bullets, these men, too, were convinced that the enemy 
was advancing and they returned the fire actively for a half 
hour or more, expending much ammunition, particularly the 
Regulars. The losses, one killed and seven wounded, fell all 
upon the Nebraska men. 

. Having experienced by daylight what a so-called attack 
was like, I naturally held the opinion from the first that these 
night affairs were quite the same as the insurgent "attack," 
we had watched a day or two before, a continuance in fact, 
of the tactics which had been practised by both sides dur- 
ing their entire campaign. There had been almost no fight- 
ing in the open, and the Spaniards had gradually been driven 
out of their advanced posts in the rough country, unable to 
oppose with disciplined troops the insurgents' methods. The 
natives were familiar with every inch of the territory, were 
perhaps superior in numbers, certainly more active and en- 
terprising, and, hiding in ambush everywhere, so worried the 
Spaniards by constant peppering by day and by fusillades 

ioo 




COLORADO REGIMENT KNEELING ON THE BEACH TO FIRE 




FIRST ADVANCE OF COMPANY I OF THE COLORADO REGIMENT THROUGH 

THE GRASS 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

at night that they were forced at last to establish themselves 
in a line where the annoyances of this system of fighting 
were reduced to a minimum and where communications were 
easy. When the Spaniards saw the new entrenchments at 
Maytubig growing stronger day by day they believed, of 
course, that we were preparing to attack their works near 
the fort, and, knowing that this was scarcely to be under- 
taken in the daytime, at least without the co-operation of the 
fleet, they were in constant anticipation of an assault by 
night. 

It is always safe to presume that the enemy is quite as 
much afraid of you as you are of him, and the belief that he 
is much more so is a powerful moral support. This does not 
often occur to green troops and probably was not a prevalent 
notion among our men. 

One strong argument against the general idea that the 
enemy attempted to assault our positions at Maytubig was 
the knowledge that if they really made an effort to drive us 
out, their only chance of success was by an advance from the 
strong salient at Blockhouse Fourteen where they had op- 
posed to them only a scattered force of insurgents with slight 
defences. Protected on both flanks by impassable morasses 
and streams and well under cover of a thick growth of trees, 
it was possible for the Spaniards to advance without meeting 
with any serious obstacle in the way of an earthwork into the 
village of Pasay, and thus threaten our rear at Maytubig and 
the unfortified camp, so that a general action would be 
brought on at a place where the fleet could give no effective 
aid to our resistance and from which our troops could not re- 
treat, for there was no place for them to go. A sortie would 
have been only a dramatic flourish, to be sure, and would 
have had no effect on the ultimate result of the campaign. 
But conspicuous drama is often played in war with no 
greater results than the Spaniards might have expected rea- 



ioi 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

sonably from this move. The sortie of Osman Pasha at 
Plevna is an example of this. 

Now the officers of the Third held tenaciously to their 
opinion that the Spaniards had never left their works in these 
night affairs, forming their judgment largely on their ex- 
perience in the trenches on the night of the 31st. When the 
battalion went up to the front again on the 3rd of August, 
the day of the disastrous landing on the beach, Lieutenant 
Krayenbuhl said to me as we were paddling through the mud 
of the Camino Real: 

"You can sleep to-night, for there won't be any firing." 

I was amused a few moments later at the speech of a ser- 
geant, the same one who had instructed his men how to be- 
have at Honolulu. Transmitting the orders from the of- 
ficers, he said : 

"Now you fellows, look a-here ! You're not to load your 
guns unless I order you to, and if we begin to fire I don't 
want to see you sittin' down on your hunkers in the mud 
and shooting into the wide, wide world, but I want you to 
prance right up on top of the breastwork and give them da- 
gos hell !" 

Not observing any entrenching tools carried by the men 
I asked Lieutenant Krayenbuhl, who was very keen about the 
construction of the breastworks, how many implements they 
had. 

"We have two spades, one shovel and one pickaxe," he 
replied, "but we hope to borrow some more from the Ne- 
braska boys !" 

"How are you going to cut bamboo ?" I asked. 

"We'll have to bite it off if we can't get any axes," he 
said. 

I hurried back to camp and, luckily, was able to send a 
note to the Newport in which I urged a friend to notify the 
proper officer that the men were sent up to the front to dig 
trenches, practically unprovided with implements, calling his 

102 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

attention at the same time to the fact that ten thousand en- 
trenching tools were rusting in the hold of the Morgan City 
and from the character of the packages in which such ar- 
ticles are shipped would probably be found on the top of the 
cargo. In the postscript I suggested that perhaps the bales 
of coffee sacks which were greatly needed for sand bags 
might possibly have been used to stow the entrenching tools 
with. 

The Third came back to camp the next morning without 
having fired a shot. 

Neither the weather, nor the discomforts of the trenches 
nor the trying experience of sitting still under the enemy's 
fire which was more and more impressed on the men as their 
duty, acted in the slightest degree as a deterrent to the great 
zeal of the troops to take an active part in the business, and 
the different organizations received their orders to go to the 
front with an enthusiasm as inspiriting as it was genuine. 
Considerable annoyance and no little jealousy were felt by 
those who, for some good reason, were not called upon in 
what they thought to be their turn. The men of the Astor 
battery, particularly, felt left out of it all and were much hu- 
miliated by their enforced idleness. They carried no rifles 
and therefore could not act as infantry, and there was abso- 
lutely no room in the trenches for the emplacement of their 
guns. So they were obliged to eat their hearts out in camp. 
They ceased to sing in their old way, and the chorus — "Zum ! 
We are natural-born soldiers," etc., was no longer heard, and 
a new version, "For they're a lot of tin soldiers !" was once 
ventured upon by a mischievous fellow of another organi- 
zation. If he had been caught he would have been flayed 
alive. 

They were encouraged somewhat by the belief that, sooner 
or later they would have a chance to christen their pet 
Hotchkiss guns, and busied themselves in putting their fixed 
ammunition in order. A quantity of brown prismatic pow- 

103 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

der was obtained from the admiral and this they broke up 
into the proper size with ordinary carpenters' tools. The 
brass cases had to be cleaned out, carefully dried and re- 
charged, for they were filled with a black pasty mass of wet 
gunpowder. So great was their eagerness to be prepared 
for emergencies, that they refilled all their spoiled cartridge 
cases in twelve hours after they got the powder. 

While the explosive was forthcoming one of the men who 
was prowling about restlessly brought word that there was 
a considerably quantity of powder abandoned by the insur- 
gents at the bronze gun. A detail was at once sent up to se- 
cure it and a dozen or more large well filled flannel bags were 
brought back and safely deposited in the ammunition tent. 
Before they could use it, a squad of insurgents with an of- 
ficer came hurrying into camp in search of the ammunition 
of their bronze gun which they asserted had been stolen by 
our men. The property was traced easily, of course, and 
Captain March was obliged to let them carry it away, for 
they explained with great volubility that the gun crew had 
only gone away to breakfast and when they returned to 
their post they found every charge of powder had disap- 
peared. 

In these first days of what might be called active opera- 
tions, the sobering effect of the casualties was felt strongly. 
There was no sunshine to cheer up the camp ; the skies were 
dull, gray, and lowering; the ground was soaked and half 
flooded, and violent winds unceasingly drove the rain into 
the open shelter, pitilessly drenching the men and all their 
possessions. 

The plot first used for a burial ground was in a walled 
enclosure around a large building in the hamlet of Malabay 
quite near the camp, just beyond the Camino Real and across 
the Paranaque river. The natives objected to this site, and 
a few days later a small piece of waste land on the west bank 
of the stream was enclosed by a bamboo fence and the bodies 

104 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

first buried were then taken to the new burial ground. No 
more depressing and dismal sight have I ever seen than 
these funeral ceremonies. Services were held by the chap- 
lain over the body in a tent in camp and then a long line of 
soldiers, four of them bearing a stretcher with the body 
wrapped in a gray army blanket and draped with the Stars 
and Stripes, moved slowly across the camp-ground and 
wound its way through the muddy lane to the burial place. 
Here, in a grave already dug in the sodden, water-soaked 
earth, the limp form was deposited. No funeral mutes ever 
looked so grewsome as the soldiers draped in the rigid folds 
of black ponchos with the campaign hats beaten over their 
faces by the pouring rain. A short, earnest prayer and a 
few appreciative words by the chaplain at the grave, the 
three sharp volleys and the long mournful notes of the bugle 
which haunted the memory ever after, made up the final epi- 
sode of each tragedy. The surroundings so out of harmony 
with all our experiences and traditions made it all seem un- 
canny and unreal. The sense of our wide separation of dis- 
tance and time from home and home friends ; the uncertain- 
ties of the future; the ever-present sense of responsibility 
and, above all and stronger than all the overwhelming and 
unwelcome consciousness that these lives were wasted, filled 
our minds with vague apprehensions and our hearts with 
oppressive sadness. Never can I forget the wail of that 
bugh as it broke the dull murmur of the storm and, with 
ruffled echo, carried the mournful accents of this final trib- 
ute to a comrade's heroism far into the depths of the jungle 
and across the great encampment to the tossing waters of 
the bay where it was lost in the deep roar of the waves. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Camp rumor, for once quite correct, had it that, soon after 
the arrival of the Monterey, there would be a change in the 
situation, and eager watchers on the beach let no sign of 
smoke escape their notice. About ten o'clock in the morn- 
ing of the 4th of August the unmistakable outlines of the 
monitor were seen in the distance and half the camp flocked 
to the shore and cheered and shouted with joy as she rounded 
to and dropped anchor near the flagship. 

Up to this time we had lost twelve killed and fifty-two 
wounded. 

Would the navy ever wake up and act? Would the thir- 
teen-inch guns of the Monterey knock the sand out of those 
embrasures which so impudently stand across the marsh at 
Maytubig? Would we be allowed to fight instead of sitting 
like so many bumps on a log to be shot at by the Spaniards ? 
Would this pottering and useless waste of life now stop and 
we be allowed to make one clean job of it? A thousand 
questions, which nobody could answer, flew around the 
camp, many and ingenious were the speculations and wild 
beyond every belief were the reports of peace negotiations 
in progress and of the imminent unconditional surrender of 
the Spanish forces. Smoke from some insignificant confla- 
gration in the native quarter of the suburbs started the ru- 
mor that the Spaniards were burning the walled town and a 
white-cross flag discovered flying somewhere in Malate 
started the report of a threatened bombardment by the fleet. 
The extinction of the electric lights along the Luneta which 
proved to be final, was considered full proof that in a few 
hours something decisive would soon occur. The camp was 

106 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

in a fever of expectation, but the soldiers had not yet learned 
their whole lesson. The Pennsylvanians were in the trenches 
that night. 

The next day the field telegraph came along through the 
camp at a pace which indicated that this branch of the ser- 
vice was well up to its work. I caught sight of the men as 
they passed with a carromato loaded with coils of insulated 
wire, and as soon as I could shed my clogs and get into my 
boots I ran after them. They were out of sight beyond the 
camp before I could catch them and I had to follow the wire 
to find out where they were. They simply unrolled the 
thickly coated wire along the ground, fastening it to trees 
beyond reach when they came to a path or to the entrance of 
an enclosure, and then went on at a fast walk straight along 
between the Camino Real and the trees near the beach and 
up to the trenches where they established their headquarters 
in the rear of the Capuchin house and constructed there a 
partially bomb-proof shelter. 

General Greene went off in the forenoon towards Parafia- 
que,and rumor had it that he had gone on board the Olympia 
to arrange with the admiral for a combined attack on the 
Spaniards without delay. The news had leaked out that the 
general had a box of blue lights in his quarters and the the- 
ory was advanced that these were to be used to signal to the 
Raleigh, which vessel had replaced the Boston as a guard 
ship off the landing, whenever the army was prepared to 
make a night assault under cover of the guns of the fleet, 
thus paying the enemy back in its own coin but at a larger 
ratio of value than that which existed between the Mexican 
and the United States dollar. It was remarkable what a 
strain of truth ran through the common gossip of the camp, 
particularly at this time when everybody was on the watch 
for any indication, however slight, of what was going on. 

The fact was that the general had gone aboard the Olym- 
pia, but not by any means to arrange for a combined attack 

107 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

of the army and navy. He was very much distressed at the 
loss of life in the trenches which, although apparently un- 
avoidable, was quite useless, and he was very anxious to put 
a stop to it. He accordingly wrote General Merritt urging 
him to request the admiral to send the Monterey to batter 
down the stone fort opposite our lines in order to teach the 
enemy a lesson which would probably put an end to their 
picket firing and fusillades. General Merritt handed the 
letter over to Admiral Dewey and sent for General Greene 
to come to Paranaque, where he met him with his steam 
launch and carried him on board the Newport. It was then 
decided that General Greene should explain the situation in 
person to Admiral Dewey and accordingly he had an inter- 
view with him on the flagship. The admiral was not willing 
to entertain the proposition submitted, for various reasons. 
First, the monitor was not in good working condition after 
her long voyage; second, because he thought it injudicious 
to wake up the twenty-four centimetre Krupp guns on the 
water front at Manila until both the floating batteries of 
thirteen-inch guns had joined the squadron, and lastly, be- 
cause he was sure that the army was not ready for a forward 
movement, because a large part of General MacArthur's bri- 
gade had not yet landed on account of the storm. At the 
same time he deplored the loss of life and expressed his will- 
ingness, in case of any move of the enemy which seriously 
threatened the force in camp, to order the Boston, the 
Raleigh, the Charleston, and the Monterey, all of which ves- 
sels were under steam day and night, to bombard the Span- 
ish works. Notice could be given the camp by flag signal by 
day and by a blue light at night. 

I have since learned that he also suggested that the 
trenches be evacuated or, if held at all, to be occupied with 
a very small force, but this General Greene was by no means 
willing to do for such a movement would have had the worst 
possible effect on the men. 

10S 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

General Greene came back to camp before dinner time 
rather tired after his excursion, uncommunicative and de- 
pressed, as I thought. 

The arrival of the Monterey and the comparative quiet of 
the past two nights had made it more hopeful that the inef- 
fective and annoying disturbances at the front had now 
ceased. We were quietly chatting in the mess tent after din- 
ner when a steady rattle of small arms, punctuated by an 
occasional deeper report, suddenly began. The field tele- 
graph had been established in an adjoining tent and here the 
officers of the brigade staff and of the signal corps assembled. 
The news came quickly that an attack of the enemy was in 
progress. 

One battalion of the First Nebraska Volunteers and one 
from the Twenty-third and one from the Fourteenth Regu- 
lars were in the trenches. 

The little tent interior made a most dramatic picture. 
General Greene was busy writing at a camp desk or dictat- 
ing orders to Captain Bates, chief of staff. The telegraph 
operators were preoccupied with the instrument near a small 
petroleum lamp. Now and then an orderly entered, saluted 
and delivered a letter or a brief verbal report. The triangle 
of ruddy light with its ever-changing group in a strong Rem- 
brandtesque effect of light and shade and framed by the 
impenetrable darkness, was occasionally veiled by a screen of 
drifting rain like the gauze curtain in front of a tableau vi- 
vant. The tent was the focus of intense human interest, for 
there was serious work at the front and the pulse of the ac- 
tion was immediately felt in the tent through the agency of 
the slender wire. The rattle and splutter continued without 
cessation. Messengers arrived for ammunition which was 
speedily loaded into carromatos and sent to the front. The 
native drivers were reluctant to face the danger and often 
had to be threatened before they would move. One young 
fellow cried bitterly as he drove away. 

109 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Written orders were sent here and there into the darkness 
of the camp where all was quiet and calm. 

I endeavored to persuade two of the men from the front 
to take something to eat, as they seemed pretty well worn 
out. 

"We haven't any time to eat," they replied. "We've got 
to get back to help out." 

They had run a mile and a half in the mud, a good third 
of the way under a hot fire, and were only too eager to face 
the danger again and to rejoin their comrades. 

In the height of the excitement the telegraph instrument 
suddenly ceased to work. The current was undoubtedly 
broken. 

"I'll go up and see what the matter is," quietly remarked 
young Corporal Brazier of the Signal Corps, and off he 
started in the gloom. A half hour passed, perhaps more — it 
seemed hours, indeed — and then the cheery "tick, tick" be- 
gan again. The corporal had followed up the wire, groping 
his way along until he came to a place where it had been 
cut by a bursting shell and here, in the storm and the dark- 
ness and under a rain of bullets, he had repaired the break. 
He presently returned and quickly resumed his work. He 
was made sergeant, for he had well earned a promotion. 

A single visit to the trenches at night satisfied my curiosity 
and I never repeated the experience. There was little to 
see, a good deal to hear at times, and nothing to do but to 
sit in the rain and try to be cheerful, an effort which palled 
considerably as the hours wore on. Once in the lines, the 
high earthworks gave ample protection so the element of 
danger was scarcely to be considered by a non-combatant. 
The darkness was so intense that all sorts of incidents of a 
serious nature might go on without being known except to 
those near the spot. I was surprised at the number of men 
crowded into the limited space, often as many, indeed, as 
three to the running yard, far too many, it seemed to me, for 

no 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

convenience or for effective action. They literally fell over 
one another at times. I remembered on the occasion of my 
visit, an evening in the trenches before Plevna, when one of 
Skobeleff's fights was in progress. Lieutenant Greene and I 
were then astonished at the small number of Russians who 
were expected to hold the earthworks, certainly not more 
than one soldier to ten yards. Every few minutes an officer 
came along to see that his men were all attentive and once 
he ran along breathlessly crying : 

"Here they come ! Here they come ! Look out children ! 
Look out I" 

We almost felt lonesome in those trenches. 

At Maytubig there was, if anything, an excess of com- 
pany. The white house and the hut had plenty of lodgers, 
and there was no space to let. 

Although Manila was invested by land and blockaded by 
sea there was a certain amount of recognized communica- 
tion with the town through the agency of the foreign fleet. 
Occasionally, too, foreigners had permission to enter or to 
leave the town and twice or three times several Englishmen 
in business in Manila came aboard the Newport. They were 
very reticent about the situation in the town, evidently con- 
sidering themselves bound in honor not to impart any infor- 
mation at all, but they did not deny that they had a full larder 
themselves or contradict the statement that the inhabitants 
were reduced to eat horseflesh. The Belgian consul, M. An- 
dre, was apparently the recognized official messenger be- 
tween the belligerents and it was reported that he was ear- 
nestly trying to persuade the Spanish authorities to surren- 
der the place and avoid further loss of life. He afterwards 
told me that this was so and that the governor-general re- 
fused to consider the proposition, declaring that Spanish 
honor was at stake and this would be compromised in the 
eyes of the world if he surrendered the place without a fight. 
M. Andre aptly remarked to me that this was a fagon de 

in 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

parler and that he knew at the time they would con- 
tinue to make that assertion as long as they found any one 
to believe it. His negotiations to this end came to nothing, 
because they were always blocked by the high sounding 
phrase: "Spanish honor," and the drama went on. 

It was to be expected that this general situation should 
create distrust and suspicion on the part of those who were 
carefully observing events with various means of obtaining 
information not always within the cognizance of the authori- 
ties. It is the business of a correspondent to get information, 
not always, of necessity for publication, be it remarked. I 
have noticed that when the chief actors themselves put pen to 
paper after the event, as they are almost always tempted to 
do nowadays, they disclose by far more of the inside work- 
ings of the machinery than a correspondent would ever be 
justified in doing. Some of us at Manila felt very strongly 
that there was a great deal going on sub rosa which would 
never be made public, not for the reason that the integrity 
of any person would be compromised thereby but the drama 
which was evidently being planned for public entertainment 
on this stage of the world would lose most of its effective 
incidents if the skeleton of the plot were exposed. This idea 
arose in great part from the knowledge of the fact, patent to 
all, that Admiral Dewey could, now that there was a suffi- 
cient army of occupation on the spot, force the surrender of 
Manila at any time he chose. The impression that the gal- 
lery was being played to, so to speak, was confirmed by vari- 
ous scraps of information more or less authentic of which 
one was suggestive at least. This was the statement that the 
governor-general in Manila had written in his own hand a 
suggestion of the manner in which the town should be occu- 
pied by the American troops. There was nothing particu- 
larly startling in this report for such a proceeding is by no 
means unusual on the eve of inevitable surrender of a place 
where every effort must be made to protect the interests of 

112 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

private individuals and to spare innocent lives. Still, after 
all, it scarcely seemed worth while to keep up the fiction that 
we were engaged in a serious campaign on the land, at least. 
If General Merritt had taken the field or even if he estab- 
lished his headquarters at Cavite, the deception would have 
been less apparent. All this made the business on the land, 
which was, as I have shown, deadly serious to those engaged 
in it, seem an almost bombastic display which was greatly 
to be deplored because it was costing valuable lives and much 
treasure. 

Newspapers were frequently brought out of Manila and 
in the one of August 5 we read that the Madrid government, 
by a telegram dated July 24, had removed his excellency, the 
Lieutenant-General Basilo Augustin Davila, from his posi- 
tion as governor-general and captain-general of the archi- 
pelago and general in command of the troops, and had ap- 
pointed to succeed him his excellency General of Division 
Don Fermin Jaudenes Alvarez the second in command. Fur- 
ther, that the latter had, by virtue of his new authority, ap- 
pointed his excellency General of Division Francesco Rizzo 
second in command, and General Monet to succeed the lat- 
ter in his position as general of division. The same paper 
also contained the information that the King of Spain, in a 
telegram dated July 21 thanked the soldiers at Manila for 
their heroic services, and promised handsome rewards to 
those who might perform deeds of valor in the cause of the 
country. An army order was also quoted which instructed 
the sick and wounded to recover as soon as possible so that 
the ranks of the soldiers in the trenches might be filled. No 
such order was needed at Camp Dewey, it is needless to add. 

The character of the gentleman just supplanted in his im- 
portant office was chiefly known to the public by a remarka- 
ble proclamation which he had issued only a week before the 
destruction of the Spanish fleet. It read in translation, as 
follows : 

8 113 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

"Extraordinary Proclamation by the Governor-Gen- 
eral of the Philippines. 

"Spaniards : Between the United States and Spain hos- 
tilities have broken out. The moment has arrived to prove 
to the world that we possess the spirit to conquer those who, 
pretending to be loyal friends, take advantage of our mis- 
fortunes and abuse our hospitality, using means which civil- 
ized nations count unworthy and disreputable. 

"The North American people, constituted of all the social 
excrescences, have exhausted our patience and provoked war, 
with their perfidious machinations, with their acts of treach- 
ery, with their outrages against the law of nations and in- 
ternational conventions. 

"The struggle will be short and decisive. The God of 
victories will give us one as brilliant and complete as the 
righteousness and justice of our cause demand. Spain, which 
will count upon the sympathies of all the nations, will emerge 
triumphantly from this new test, humiliating and blasting 
the adventurers from those states that, without cohesion and 
without a history, offer to humanity only infamous traditions 
and the ungrateful spectacle of chambers in which appear 
united insolence and defamation, cowardice and cynicism. 

"A squadron manned by foreigners, possessing neither 
instruction nor discipline, is preparing to come to this archi- 
pelago with the ruffianly intention of robbing us of all that 
means life, honor and liberty. Pretending to be inspired by 
a courage of which they are incapable, the North American 
seamen undertake as an enterprise capable of realization, the 
substitution of Protestantism for the Catholic religion you 
profess, to treat you as tribes refractory to civilization, to 
take possession of your riches as if they were unacquainted 
with the rights of property, and to kidnap those persons 
whom they consider useful to man their ships or to be ex- 
ploited in agricultural or industrial labor. 

"Vain designs ! Ridiculous boastings ! 

"Your indomitable bravery will suffice to frustrate the at- 
tempt to carry them into realization. You will not allow the 
faith you profess to be made a mock of ; impious hands to be 
placed on the temple of the true God, the images you adore 
to be thrown down by unbelief. The aggressors shall not 
profane the tombs of your fathers, they shall not gratify 

114 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

their lustful passions at the cost of your wives and daugh- 
ters' honor, or appropriate the property your industry has 
accumulated as a provision for old age. No! They shall 
not perpetrate any of the crimes inspired by their wicked- 
ness and covetousness, because your valor and patriotism 
will suffice to punish and abase the people that, claiming to 
be civilized and cultivated, have exterminated the natives 
of North America instead of bringing to them the life of 
civilization and progress. 

"Filipinos, prepare for the struggle, and, united under the 
glorious Spanish flag, which is ever covered with laurels, 
let us fight with the conviction that victory will crown our 
efforts, and to the calls of our enemies let us oppose with the 
decision of the Christian and the patriotic cry of 'Viva Es- 
paha.' 

"Manila, 23d April, 1898. 

"Your General, 
"Basilo Augustin Davtla." 

Captain Chichester in command of the British first-class 
cruiser the Immortalite stationed at Manila since the open- 
ing of hostilities there was in very cordial relations with Ad- 
miral Dewey and was the authoritative medium of commu- 
cation with the Spanish officials. All ordinary messages to 
or from them were supposed to be sent through him. We 
never learned by what agency the Madrid telegrams above 
quoted were delivered in Manila but it was the current be- 
lief that it was through the Germans, because they had fre- 
quently shown a strong bias towards the Spanish cause and 
were known to have sent provisions into the town on more 
than one occasion. An interesting rumor was also circu- 
lated, the substance of which has since been confirmed in 
print by Mr. Stickney, the Herald correspondent, and others, 
that Admiral Dewey had warned Admiral von Diederichs 
that a continuance of his unfriendly actions would be con- 
strued as open hostility. We were naturally prejudiced 
against the Germans by these reports and by what we could 
all see of their actions. Their warships did not enter or leave 

"5 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the harbor by the same route which the vessels of other na- 
tionalities took, but for some reason or other steamed away 
across the bay near the western shore, whither the launch 
from the Olympia which always ran alongside incoming or 
outgoing vessels, was obliged to go to perform this duty. 
The Germans alone of the different nationalities represented 
in the bay protested against the simple regulations which 
Admiral Dewey enforced as the commander of the blockad- 
ing squadron. 

At the end of the first week of August things were evi- 
dently coming to a head, as I have suggested, and it was in 
the air that something was soon to happen. Everybody felt 
this. A hint at such a time is worth a great deal and late on 
the afternoon of the 6th something of that nature lurked in 
a verbal message left at my tent by a friend from Cavite. 
There was a very heavy blow on, and the Albany which had 
been lying off the breakers all day at last steamed away for 
I was unable to signal to her and no boat would venture to 
run the surf. Parahaque was the nearest place where I could 
hope to get a boat to go to Cavite and it was already half past 
five when I started for that village. In a casco near the 
bridge I found Colonel McClure and his son and Major 
Kilbourne all from the Newport, who were trying to get 
back to the steamer. We joined forces and sent for a na- 
tive boatman. After some argument and a great deal of 
bargaining, we hired a large dugout without outriggers, pad- 
dled by four men besides the steersman. It was nearly dark 
before we crossed the bar and the crew seemed nearly used 
up before we fetched clear of the line of breakers, for it was 
very rough and they had to paddle with all their strength 
to make any headway in the tumbling sea. She was a 
stanch craft and we did not ship much water. What little 
we took on board we knew about because we were obliged 
to sit flat in the bottom of the canoe to give her stability. 
The crew needed a good deal of encouragement and the 

116 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

steersman chaunted a barbaric refrain at intervals which 
woke them up and they paddled like mad for a few strokes 
and then settled down again to the slow and wearisome pace. 
The wind was dead ahead and "blowing half a gale" as the 
Atlantic captains say when the worst weather is met. Dark- 
ness came on rapidly, almost without the warning of twi- 
light, and the feeble glimmer at Cavite alone gave us a true 
direction for presently we could not see the fleet at all. 

Suddenly, a number of colored lights flashed and blinked 
first on one vessel and then on another and the great beam of 
a powerful searchlight swept over the water, nervously wav- 
ing up and down, now bringing into gleaming prominence 
the white buildings of Cavite, now throwing into strong re- 
lief the black hulls of the transports and now spreading all 
along the line of trees on the shore. One by one the vessels 
of the fleet all turned on their searchlights, and then we ob- 
served them all directed at one point, the open ground be- 
tween the lines at Maytubig. Almost simultaneously a 
strong beam from the foreign fleet settled on the same mark, 
as nearly as we could judge. We were told afterwards by 
the men who were in the trenches at the time, that this sin- 
gle beam was from the Kaiser in Augusta, and was directed 
upon the white house and the full front of our earthworks, 
causing the enemy to open fire at once. 

We paddled steadily on as fast as we could, knowing the 
orders about circulation on the water at night and anxious 
to make a good distance before the searchlights began wan- 
dering again, and we succeeded in getting quite close to a 
transport without being observed by any one on the squad- 
ron. We hailed the silent, dark mass and a voice sounding 
very distant and high above our heads answered us and gave 
us elaborate directions in fractions of points of the compass 
which we tried at once to follow before we should forget 
them. We felt comparatively at home in the company of the 
transports and went on cheerfully and hailed the next great 

117 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

towering mass we came to. From this and from the next 
one we got plenty of advice but none which we managed to 
follow, try as hard as we could. All ships look alike in the 
dark when you cannot even see to count their masts. We 
began to think we were in for a night in Cavite. 

The searchlights started to roam again. How restless and 
fidgety they were that night ! Soon one caught us full in the 
face. The natives stopped paddling at once. A voice rang 
out, "Halt! who goes there? Who are you? Keep off or 
I'll fire !" and we saw we were nearly aboard the Monterey. 
We hurriedly explained our position and asked for the di- 
rection of the Newport. The men on deck had never heard 
of her, but we knew she was somewhere between the moni- 
tor and Cavite and we made the boatmen paddle the canoe 
in that direction, the searchlight which nearly frightened the 
natives silly, glaring at us now and then in a most confusing 
and irritating manner. All at once, by great good luck, we 
ran fairly under the stern of the steamer we were looking 
for, and then the great beam of light, for the first time 
friendly to us, showed us the faces of our comrades sitting 
on the deck. 

The next day was Sunday and everybody had a very quiet 
manner on, which I at first thought might be the day and 
then concluded it was induced by the possession of some im- 
portant secret. The evening before I had vainly tried to 
wheedle some unconsidered trifle of information out of Colo- 
nel Whittier but he was too discreet for me and turned on 
sumptuous hospitality with generosity enough to excuse par- 
simony of confidences and made me for the time almost for- 
get the camp. He was a little preoccupied in the morning 
and guarded in his conversation, like the others. 

A strange launch, said to belong to the Belgian consul, 
came steaming across from the direction of the foreign ves- 
sels and ran alongside the Olympia. The Canacao was 
waiting at the companion ladder of our steamer. General 

118 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Merritt and one or two other officers came on deck in full 
uniform or dressed, at least, with unusual care and the Ca- 
nacao took them to the Olympia. Shortly after they went 
aboard, a launch from the flagship steamed rapidly away in 
the direction of Manila and then the officers came back and 
everybody tried to look as if nothing was going on. 

I had only to put two and two together and I was at the 
threshold of an open door. A. decisive message of some kind 
had evidently been sent to the Spanish authorities in Ma- 
nila, probably a demand for immediate surrender under pen- 
alty of bombardment and assault. Special information on 
this point was of no use to me, I was sure to get it all before 
there was an opportunity of sending it away and I therefore 
decided to leave the party of Sphinxes on the Newport and 
go back to camp ; so I signalled for the Albany and tried to 
land at Parahaque with Major Thompson and his men as 
before described. 



CHAPTER IX 

Camp rumor, which spread more rapidly than scandal in 
a village street, was, in the main, correct. A joint note signed 
by General Merritt and Admiral Dewey, had been sent on 
Sunday forenoon to the commander-in-chief of the Spanish 
forces in Manila warning him that operations against the 
defences of the town by the land and naval forces of the 
United States might begin at any time after the expiration 
of forty-eight hours from the time the notice was received, 
or sooner if an attack was made on our lines by the Span- 
ish troops. The British vice-consul, Mr. H.A.Ramsden, who 
was in charge of the American consular interests in the be- 
sieged city, delivered the note to the Spanish, received a re- 
ply to it and sent this at once to Admiral Dewey. The reply 
was signed by Governor-General and Captain-General Fer- 
min Jaudenes and stated that he had received the joint note 
at half past twelve o'clock. Without giving any definite in- 
dication of his intentions he returned his grateful acknowl- 
edgments of the humane sentiments expressed in the note 
and simply added that, as he was surrounded by insurrec- 
tionary forces, he was unable to remove the sick and 
wounded and other non-combatants to a place of safety. By 
the tone of his reply it was evident that he did not expect 
the threat of bombardment would be carried out. Indeed, 
the ultimatum was not put in such strong terms as to sug- 
gest that such a deplorable step would be taken except as a 
last resort. The words "may begin at any time," etc., used 
instead of the words "will begin at once," etc., have a per- 
functory sound and the qualifying clause at the end of the 

I20 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

document in regard to the attack on our lines did not 
strengthen the demand implied in the note. 

A joint letter was at once sent back calling the attention 
of General Jaudenes in rather verbose and empty-sounding 
phrases to the sufferings of the non-combatants in case a 
bombardment should occur and ending with a demand for 
the surrender of the town and the Spanish forces. On the 
next day General Jaudenes replied that he desired time to 
consult with the Madrid government before deciding this 
important question, not asking, meanwhile, that the non- 
combatants be permitted to pass through the investing lines 
nor, indeed, that any facilities should be afforded him for 
the removal of the sick and wounded and the women and 
children to places of refuge. The limit of time set by the 
ultimatum had expired within a few hours when this letter 
was written. On the ioth, the day after the expiration of 
the notices, a joint reply was sent to the last letter from the 
Spanish general stating that his request for more time was 
not granted. Here, as far as I know, the recorded corre- 
spondence ended. It is not easy to explain the tone of the 
letters which passed between the parties except on the theory 
that the documents were edited for home consumption par- 
ticularly for Spain. 

It is as well, perhaps, to append the text of the letters re- 
lating to this important event. 

No. 679— M. 
"United States Naval Force on Asiatic Station. 
"Flagship Olympia, 

'Cavite, P. I., August 6, 1898. 

"Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
your communication in reference to our ultimatum to the 
Spanish authorities in Manila. 

"I agree with you that it would be well to send at once a 
joint letter to the captain-general notifying him that he 
should remove from the city all non-combatants within forty- 

121 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

eight hours, and that operations against the defences of 
Manila may begin at any time after the expiration of the 
said forty-eight hours. 

"In my judgment the ultimatum would be stronger with- 
out any qualification. 

"If you will cause such a letter to be prepared I will sign 
it. Very respectfully, 

"George Dewey, 
"Rear Admiral U. S. Navy, 
"Commanding U. S. Naval Force on Asiatic Station. 

"Major-General Wesley Merritt, U. S. Army, 

"Commanding U. S. Forces." 

"Headquarters United States Land and Naval Forces, 
"Manila Bay, Philippine Islands, 

"August 7, 1898. 

"To The General-in-Chief , Commanding Spanish Forces in 
Manila: 

"Sir : — We have the honor to notify Your Excellency that 
operations of the land and naval forces of the United States 
against the defences of Manila may begin at any time after 
the expiration of forty-eight hours from the hour of receipt 
by you of this communication, or sooner if made necessary 
by an attack on your part. 

"This notice is given in order to afford you an opportunity 
to remove all non-combatants from the city. 
"Very respectfully, 

"Wesley Merritt, 
"Major-General U. S. Army i 
"Commanding Land Forces of the United States. 

"George Dewey, 

"Rear- Admiral, U. S. Navy, 
"Commanding United States Naval Forces on Asiatic Sta- 
tion." 

"British Consulate, Manila, 

"Att gust 7, 1898. 
"Most Excellent Sir: — I beg to acknowledge the re- 

122 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ceipt of Your Excellency's communication under to-day's 
date which was delivered to me on the wharf. 

"I immediately drove to see His Excellency the Governor 
and Captain-General and handed personally the communica- 
tion addressed to His Excellency, by Your Excellency and 
Major-General Merritt. 

"It was half-past twelve p. .m. when the communication 
Was handed to His Excellency, and I begged of His Excel- 
lency to cause the time to be stated in His Excellency's re- 
ply, when the communication was received. 

"I have now the honor to transmit herewith enclosed to 
Your Excellency the answer from His Excellency the Gov- 
ernor-General. 

"I have the honor to be, 
"Your Excellency's Most obedient Humble Servant, 
"(Signed) H. A. Ramsden, 

"British Vice-Consul, 
"In charge of U. S. Consular Interests. 

"His Excellency Rear-Admiral Dewey, 
"Commanding the United States Naval Forces on Asiatic 
Station. 
"U. S. Flagship Olympiad 

[Translation.] 

"Manila, 'August 7, 1898. 

"The Governor-General and Captain-General of the 
Philippines, 

To The Major-General of the Army and -the Rear-Admiral 
of the Navy, Commanding respectively the Military and 
Naval Forces of the United States: 

"Gentlemen : — I have the honor to inform Your Excel- 
lencies that at half past twelve to-day I received the notice 
with which you favor me, that after forty-eight hours have 
elapsed you may begin operations against this fortified city 
or at an earlier hour if the forces under your command are 
attacked by mine. 

"As your notice is sent for the purpose of providing for 
the safety of non-combatants, I give thanks to Your Excel- 
lencies for the humane sentiments you have shown, and state 
that, finding myself surrounded by insurrectionary forces, 

123 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

I am without places of refuge for the increased numbers of 
wounded, sick, women and children who are now lodged 
within the walls. 

"Very respectfully and kissing the hands of 
"Your Excellencies, 
"(Signed) Fermin Jaudenes, 

"Governor-General and Captain-General of the Philippines." 

"Headquarters United States Land and Naval Forces, 
Manila Bay, Philippine Islands, 

"August 7, 1898. 

"To The Governor-General and Captain-General of the Phil- 
ippines: 

"Sir : — The inevitable suffering in store for the wounded, 
sick, women and children, in the event that it becomes our 
duty to reduce the defences of the walled town in which they 
are gathered, will, we feel assured, appeal successfully to the 
sympathies of a General capable of making the determined 
and prolonged resistance which Your Excellency has ex- 
hibited after the loss of your Naval forces and without hope 
of succor. 

"We therefore submit, without prejudice to the high senti- 
ments of honor and duty which Your Excellency entertains, 
that surrounded on every side as you are by a constantly in- 
creasing force, with a powerful fleet in your front and de- 
prived of all prospect of reinforcement and assistance, a most 
useless sacrifice of life would result in the event of an attack, 
and therefore every consideration of humanity makes it im- 
perative that you should not subject your city to the horrors 
of a bombardment. Accordingly we demand the surrender 
of the city of Manila and the Spanish forces under your com- 
mand. 

"Very respectfully, 

"Wesley Merritt, 

"Major-General U. S. Army, 
"Commanding Land Forces of the United States. 

"George Dewey, 

"Rear- Admiral, U. S. Navy, 
"Commanding United States Naval Forces on Asiatic Sta- 
tion." 

124 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

[Translation.] 

"August 8, 1898. 

"The Governor-General and Captain-General of the 
Philippines, 

To The Major-General of the Army and the Rear-Admiral 
of the Navy, commanding respectively the Military and 
Naval Forces of the United States: 
"Gentlemen : — Having received an intimation from Your 
Excellencies that, in obedience to sentiments of humanity to 
which you appeal and which I share, I should surrender this 
city and the forces under my orders, I have assembled the 
Council of Defence, which declares that your request cannot 
be granted, but taking account of the most exceptional cir- 
cumstances existing in this city which Your Excellencies 
recite and which I unfortunately have to admit, I would con- 
sult my government if Your Excellencies will grant the 
time strictly necessary for this communication by way of 
Hong Kong. Very respectfully, 

"Fermin Jaudenes, 
"Governor-General and Captain-General of the Philippines" 

"Headquarters United States Land and 
Naval Forces, Manila Bay, 

"August 10, 1898. 
"To The Governor-General and Captain-General of the Phil- 
ippine Islands: 
"Sir: — We have the honor to acknowledge the communi- 
cation of Your Excellency of the 8th inst., in which you sug- 
gest your desire to consult your government in regard to the 
exceptional circumstances in your city, provided the time to 
do so can be granted by us. 

"In reply we respectfully inform Your Excellency that we 
decline to grant the time requested. Very respectfully, 

"Wesley Merritt, 
"Major-General U. S. Army, 
"Commanding United States Land Forces. 

"George Dewey, 

"Rear- Admiral, U. S. Navy, 
"Commanding United States Naval Forces, Asiatic Sta- 
tion." 

125 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The watchers on the seashore saw in the early morning of 
the day after the ultimatum was sent a number of launches 
with lighters in tow steaming out from the breakwater to the 
foreign warships, and as the hours passed this unusual move- 
ment in the harbor increased. The watchers in the trenches 
saw the sandbags begin to pile higher and higher on the en- 
emy's breastworks and noticed that the irritating compli- 
ments from the Spanish Mausers were omitted for the first 
time in some days. Gradually the men gained confidence 
that the enemy had concluded to stop their picket firing, and 
they began to wander freely up and down the beach, and the 
work of strengthening and enlarging the earthworks was 
carried on with increased zeal and in much greater comfort 
without the spasmodic accompaniment of whistling bullets. 
We in camp were surprised to flush quite a covey of generals 
in the vicinity of headquarters. General MacArthur and 
General Greene went off to inspect the lines and, in their ab- 
sence, General Merritt and General Anderson came into 
camp. All four, later in the day, spent some time under the 
shelter of our canvas portico. General MacArthur's brigade 
was busily landing at Paraiiaque, and now that he was estab- 
lished on shore he assumed temporary command of both 
brigades by virtue of his seniority in rank until General 
Anderson should establish his headquarters at Tambo, which 
he did two days later. General Greene continued in active 
command of the force at the front. 

Nobody knew whether General Merritt intended to take 
the field or not. The men were all talking about it and hav- 
ing the greatest admiration for their veteran commander, 
although few knew him by sight, they were anxious to see 
him established in camp. I was asked a hundred times if he 
was going to take active command of his troops. It was my 
impression that he would, although I did not say so, for I 
had heard him ask Captain Mott where the saddles were and 



126 




ARTHUR MacARTHUR 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

I had received an urgent request from a member of his staff 
to secure at once a good weight-carrying pony. 

A contagious fever of expectation ran through the camp, 
and the men were seen gathered in knots earnestly discussing 
the meaning of the activity in the harbor and the unusual 
quiet of the enemy. The rain continued, and although the 
monsoon ceased its vicious lashing, the discomfort in camp 
and at the front increased every hour. The mud trenches, as 
we used to call them, were almost untenable now from the 
deep mud in all the footways and from the water which 
flooded all the surrounding territory. It was impossible to 
move from one part of the works to another without plung- 
ing almost up to the knees in black, fetid mud, and the smell 
of the festering marshes was almost unendurable. About 
eighty yards in front of the general line of entrenchments 
first built, a long, straight breastwork was thrown up at the 
north end of the morass east of the Camino Real, where the 
Pennsylvanians had passed such a bad hour on the night of 
July 31. Through the tangle of bamboo beyond this and a 
little to the rear, a line of short defences had been con- 
structed, first along a bamboo hedge, then across a marsh, 
then around a native hut and so on in the dense growth of the 
swamp. Compared to these the earthworks in Virginia in 
the sixties in the rainy weather were as palaces to hovels. 
The line ended at a group of huts, one of them with a stone 
foundation, near the swale and not over two hundred yards 
from the dam. Three roads led up to the works from the 
rear, the Camino Real and two narrow lanes from the Pasay 
cross road, on one of which, the most easterly of the two, the 
insurgents had their bronze gun. General Greene had played 
the juggling game so well that he had ousted the insurgents 
from all their territory, covering a front of about half a mile, 
without exciting any noticeable animosity or calling out any 
official protest. Both our flanks were now protected by im- 
passable natural barriers, the left by the bay and the right by 

127 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the swale. Hitherto the right had been covered by the in- 
surgents, whose effectiveness and loyalty were unknown 
quantities. 

Next to Maytubig, the most important position along the 
whole line south of the Pasig was that opposite Blockhouse 
Fourteen. This position the insurgents were resolved to 
cling to, and their actions plainly indicated that they did not 
propose to be shouldered out of it, for they would not let any 
one pass their guards without written permission from Agui- 
naldo, and rather looked with suspicion on any visitors. They 
built a number of small defences in the bamboo and covered 
with a line of rifle pits the narrow neck between the swale 
and the river, which muddy stream, after winding through 
the broad marsh north of the road from Pasay to San Pedro 
de Macati, then under the bamboo bridge and through the 
thicket past Malabay, flowed into the bay at Parahaque. 

From their point of view the insurgents were perfectly 
right in holding this front on the Pasay road. It was quite 
as good a route from Bacoor to Manila as the Camino Real, 
and it was perhaps even a little shorter distance by this road 
to the main bridges across the Pasig near the walled town. 
If they gave up this front they would be completely shut out 
from an approach to Manila on the south, and the only route 
open to them would be by the circuitous and almost impassa- 
ble one via San Pedro Macati. They proposed to have a hand 
in the occupation of the town, naturally considering it their 
full right by virtue of their long service in besieging the place 
from the land side. Not being advised in any way of our 
plans or of our intentions, but having the same means of ob- 
servation of external signs which our men in camp possessed, 
they drew their own conclusions, sat tight, said nothing, and 
waited for their chance. 

The first important visible result of the ultimatum was the 
movement of the foreign fleet on the morning of Tuesday 
the 9th. The forty-eight hours' notice elapsed at half-past 

128 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

twelve on that day. About ten o'clock we saw from the 
beach the English and Japanese vessels leave their anchor- 
age and slowly steam across the bay to Cavite, where they 
took up a position near our squadron. The two German 
ships and the two French cruisers remained, as far as we 
could see, at their moorings off the breakwater. This cir- 
cumstance was interpreted at once as a full confirmation of 
the reported trouble brewing between the Germans and our- 
selves, and full proof of the French sympathy with the Span- 
iards which had been more or less plainly observable since 
the beginning of the war. Interesting complications were 
now confidently expected, in fact, it did not seem possible to 
avoid them. 

With the exception of the constant traffic between the 
shore and the German and French ships, the bay was now 
quiet. Red Cross flags began to flutter everywhere in the 
town, and this day and the next half the day on Friday wore 
away with no visible change in the situation. 

What were we waiting for? Those of us who were for- 
tunate to know the exact terms of the ultimatum were as 
much in the dark about the cause of the delay as the privates 
in the ranks. General MacArthur's brigade was all landed 
with its ammunition and stores. General Greene's brigade 
had been prepared for a move for a week or more. A single 
balky mule has been known to have stopped the advance of 
a whole army corps. Could it be, reasoned the camp oracles, 
that everything hung on the completion of the bamboo tres- 
tles which Captain Connor and his engineers were building 
on the beach to use to cross the stream near the stone fort in 
case the bridge was blown up. This could not be the balky 
mule, argued the more knowing ones, for the spidery frames 
were all finished by Thursday night, and still we did not go 
ahead. This delay was worse than standing the enemy's 
fire without returning it. 

Meanwhile the Spaniards did not fire a shot from their 

9 129 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

trenches, and the study of the ground between the lines was 
carried on day and night without any interruption by sharp- 
shooting. Major Bell with Lieutenant Means of the First 
Colorado Regiment, made a daring reconnaissance on Thurs- 
day to within a revolver shot of the water battery under the 
stone fort, the former wading and swimming until he had 
satisfied himself of the fordable depth of the inlet or mouth 
of the stream, and knew its approximate width. The Span- 
ish soldiers watched these operations without opening fire. 
On the same day Father McKinnon, chaplain of the First 
California Regiment, walked calmly up to the Spanish lines, 
without a flag of truce or anything but his costume to an- 
nounce his peaceful intentions, was allowed to enter the lines 
and was taken at his request to the Archbishop, with whom 
he had a long conference on the reported dangers threatening 
the brethren of the priesthood and on kindred subjects. He 
then came back to the stone fort, was passed through the 
lines and reached camp in the afternoon safe and sound. 

With the information gained by the restless enterprise of 
the scouts, both at this time and earlier in the campaign, 
maps were drawn by the engineers and copies were dis- 
tributed to the proper officers of the troops. The details of 
these maps were accurate enough for all purposes except, as 
it happened, in the vicinity of Blockhouse Fourteen, where 
there were one or two important defences the existence of 
which was unknown until they were discovered on the day of 
the advance. 

General Merritt with Colonel Whittier and Major Be- 
ment came to camp on the nth, and after a few hours there 
in the drenching rain, returned to the Newport and, as noth- 
ing was said about the general's taking the field we reluc- 
tantly concluded that he did not propose to take an active part 
in the land operations. This confirmed the impression which 
was rapidly gaining ground, that the enemy was expected to 



130 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

make no resistance, but would yield at once on the proper 
display of force on our side. 

In the afternoon of the 12th, the Astors received their long 
desired orders to move up to the front. Never did school- 
boys welcome an unexpected holiday more joyfully than did 
the battery receive the news that it was to march. Every- 
thing was soon in readiness, and off they started about four 
o'clock, dragging their guns as if they were as light as per- 
ambulators, followed by buffalo carts full of ammunition. 
The remaining guns of the two Utah batteries were also sent 
forward. Orders were issued by the division general and by 
the brigade commanders for the troops to prepare for an ad- 
vance against the enemy's works on the following morning at 
ten o'clock, and detailed instructions were sent out as to the 
disposition of the force at the front and in reserve. I quote 
from General Greene's order a paragraph in full which will 
show how the men were to be uniformed and equipped for 
this action: - 

"All troops that have been furnished with brown canvas 
uniforms will wear them, and officers may at their discretion 
wear the same or blue shirts, provided they wear shoulder 
straps. Other troops will wear blue shirts and trousers, and 
all will wear campaign hats. The men will carry their 
ponchos or rubber blankets, folded and hung at the belt. 
Each man will carry his rifle, bayonet belt, haversack, 
canteen and 200 rounds of ammunition, the belt being full 
and the rest in his haversack. In his haversack will be car- 
ried two days' rations of meat and hardbread, and the mess 
kit; front rank men will fill their canteens with coffee, and 
rear rank men with water. In firing, the ammunition in the 
haversacks will be used first, and that in the belts reserved 
until the last. All spades, shovels, axes and hatchets in the 
possession of the regiments will be taken forward and dis- 
tributed uniformly through the companies so as to give, if 
possible, at least one entrenching tool for each set of fours, 

131 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

one hatchet or axe in each section and one pick in each pla- 
toon. Regimental commanders will designate definitely the 
men in each squad, section or platoon, by whom these tools 
are to be carried." 

It only remains to add that all this made a very heavy load, 
particularly for the volunteers with their 45 calibre Spring- 
field rifles. The amount of ammunition carried was doubled 
after the first orders were issued by General Anderson, who 
thought that one hundred rounds would be sufficient. The 
distance to be marched was very short, but the difficulties of 
sending up supplies were almost insurmountable, and it was 
decided to give the men this large number of cartridges with 
the most stringent orders against waste. Four hundred 
rounds per man was all that could be obtained in San Fran- 
cisco, and a good part of this was already expended, so the 
greatest care was necessary in the use of what remained. 

In general terms, the forces were dispersed by General An- 
derson, under instructions from General Merritt as follows : 

The First Brigade, commanded by General MacArthur, 
was to move up to the narrow front held by the insurgents 
opposite Blockhouse Fourteen, with one of the Utah guns 
and the Astor Battery on the extreme right near the river. 
Five battalions were to occupy the insurgent earthworks 
there if it could be done without bringing on rupture with the 
natives, and the remaining six were to be kept in reserve near 
the village of Pasay. 

The Second Brigade, under General Greene, was to ad- 
vance to the front already occupied by part of this force, 
seven battalions to be stationed in the trenches and eight to 
be held in reserve between the Pasay cross road and the lines. 
Seven guns of the Utah batteries were to be put in the best 
positions found on the line of earthworks, and three landing 
guns from the navy, manned by volunteer gunners from the 
Third Artillery, were to be posted on the extreme right of 
the brigade. 

132 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The instructions received from General Merritt in a 
memorandum sent to the general officers on the afternoon 
of the 1 2th, left the question still open whether the proposed 
attack would be made after all. A quotation from this 
memorandum will explain more fully than chapters of de- 
scription, the actual state of affairs and will certainly give to 
the careful reader an excellent idea of the manner in which 
this important act of the drama was intended to be put on 
the stage. It read : 

"The navy under Rear-Admiral Dewey is to sail at nine 
o'clock in the morning, August 13, moving up to the differ- 
ent positions assigned to the warships, and open fire about 
ten a. m. The troops are to hold themselves in readiness, 
as already agreed upon, to advance on the enemy in front, 
occupying the entrenchments after they are so shaken as to 
make the advance practicable without a serious disadvantage 
to our troops. In case the navy is delayed in disabling the 
enemy's guns and levelling the works, no advance is to be 
made by the army unless ordered from these headquarters. 
In the event of a white flag being displayed on the angle of 
the walled city, or prominently anywhere else in sight, coupled 
with a cessation of firing on our part, it will mean surrender, 
as the admiral proposes, after having fired a satisfactory 
number of shots, to move up toward the walled city and dis- 
play the international signal 'Surrender/ If a white flag is 
displayed, this will be an answer to his demand, and the 
troops will advance in good order and quietly." 

"These headquarters will be on board the Zaiiro, which 
has been placed at the disposition of the commanding gen- 
eral by the admiral. Six companies of the Second Oregon 
Regiment now quartered at Cavite will accompany these 
headquarters, to be used in occupying and keeping order in 
the walled city in the event of necessity. If the white flag is 
displayed, the admiral will send his flag-lieutenant ashore, 



i33 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

accompanied by a staff officer from these headquarters, who 
will bring word as to the propositions made by the enemy. 

"The troops in the meantime will advance and, entering 
the enemy's works by the left flank, move into such positions 
as may be assigned them by orders from these headquarters. 
This is not intended to interdict the entrance, if possible, by 
the First Brigade or part of the troops, over the enemy's 
works on the right. 

"It is intended that these results shall be accomplished 
without loss of life, and while the firing continues from the 
enemy with their heavy guns, or if there is an important fire 
from their entrenchments, the troops will not attempt an ad- 
vance unless ordered from these headquarters. 

"In the event of unfavorable weather for the service of 
guns on board ship, the action will be delayed until further 
orders." 

In addition to the instructions regarding the advance upon 
the works, careful directions were given for the disposition 
of the troops on the occupation of the town and its suburbs. 
Doubt was implied in these instructions as well as in the 
memorandum above quoted, as to the prompt advance of 
General MacArthur's force. This was probably because the 
Spaniards had confidence that the American troops who oc- 
cupied the left without any leaven of natives among them 
would observe the laws of civilized belligerents regarding a 
capitulation, but from their experience with the insurgents 
they had no faith that the force of irresponsible natives which 
was concentrated opposite Blockhouse Fourteen would let 
them retreat to the town without attacking them after they 
had left the shelter of their works. This was a perfectly 
reasonable presumption, and what they feared actually hap- 
pened, as will be recorded later. 

General MacArthur was directed, in case he could enter 
the enemy's lines at Blockhouse Fourteen, to leave guards in 
the trenches there, with strict orders to allow no armed 

i34 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

bodies, other than American troops, to pass, and to move up 
the road through the village of Singalong past Paco, leaving 
a guard on the bridge at this village and also on one further 
along, and finally to take possession of the Puentes de Ayala, 
which cross the river Pasig at the Isla de Convalecencia. 
After this was done he was to establish his headquarters in 
Ermita or Malate as might be thought best at the time, and 
dispose his brigade there according to circumstances, 
promptly raising the American flag as a sign of occupation. 

In case General MacArthur did not succeed in carrying 
out this programme simultaneously with the advance on the 
left, General Greene was to send details to guard the various 
bridges against the insurgents. At the same time he was to 
carry out the movements assigned to his brigade, which were 
a rapid advance through Malate and Ermita and around the 
walled town on the outside, across the Puente de Espana, 
and the Puente Colgante, over the Pasig and into the busi- 
ness and residential quarters to the north of this river, estab- 
lishing his headquarters in the centre of the commercial dis- 
trict of Binondo. 

Both these brigade commanders were explicitly and defi- 
nitely ordered to avoid all encounters with the natives, were 
ordered, in fact, to keep the armed insurgents from entering 
the suburbs, and were practically told not to use force in 
doing this. The Spanish defences were nowhere continuous 
except between the seashore and Blockhouse Fourteen, and 
nothing was to prevent the insurgents from skirting the 
small breastworks and swarming up to the very walls of the 
citadel, a procedure which, as I have before remarked, the 
Spaniards anticipated with terror. 



CHAPTER X 

Most of us in headquarters camp were late turning in on 
Friday night, for all our traps had to be securely packed up 
so they could be brought on after us when required, as we 
had no expectation of returning to the spot again. General 
Greene had invited me to accompany him, so my billet for the 
next day was settled. Some of the correspondents had ar- 
ranged to follow their favorite regiments, others had ac- 
cepted invitations to watch the bombardment from the squad- 
ron, and a goodly number had agreed to go on the Albany, 
which was to cruise along as near the scene of action as she 
could. The seashore was likely to be far the most interest- 
ing place, because at this point it was possible to observe 
both the land and naval operations. The Third Artillery 
and the Astor Battery, the organizations in which I felt the 
most interest on account of my intimate acquaintance with 
them, were both stationed so far from the shore that I had 
no hope of seeing them at all during the action. I could not 
join either one of them with advantage, because, as experi- 
ence had taught me, in order to cover a broad horizon and to 
get an intelligent notion of the general operations, it was ab- 
solutely necessary to keep in touch with the head of active 
direction of affairs, putting aside all questions of personal 
sympathy with any particular organization. I knew that 
General Greene was sure to be in whatever interesting was 
going on. 

At four o'clock the bugles sounded their harsh call, and 
this time there was no grumbling to be heard as we struggled 
into our wet clothes, at least near my tent, which I now oc- 
cupied alone, as Colonel Potter had gone away ill. A slight 

136 




WATER BUFFALO DRAGGING GUNS OF THE UTAH BATTERY INTO POSITION 




COLORADO TROOPS REPELLING SPANISH ATTACK FROM DESERTED SPANISH 

TRENCHES 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

drizzle was falling, and the skies were lowering and the at- 
mosphere was heavy and depressing. After a hasty break- 
fast at six o'clock, General Greene and his staff mounted 
their ponies, and, crossing the camp, already half deserted, 
plodded slowly through the mud up the Camino Real. Long 
lines of men, for all the world like Confederates in their 
slouch hats and ragged brown uniforms, silently followed a 
sinuous trail through the fields, and other detachments picked 
their way along the canal of black slime which now bore lit- 
tle resemblance to a highway. We had gone but a short dis- 
tance beyond the camp when a violent tempest swept across 
the sea and land, and peal after peal of heavy thunder rum- 
bled ominously all around us. The rain came down in 
streams, not in drops, and ponchos were little protection in 
the driving storm. In a pause of the echoing thunder we 
suddenly heard, just ahead of us, and a little to the right, the 
familiar dull and heavy boom of the insurgent cannon on the 
Pasay road. General Greene, who was leading our little 
cavalcade, turned around with a look of disgust as much as 
to say : "Those idiots of insurgents will spoil the whole game 
with their foolishness !" 

We heard no reply from the Spaniards, and we moved 
along as fast as we could until we came to a little cross road 
a hundred and fifty yards or so in the rear of the trenches 
where we dismounted and tied our ponies, and wallowed up 
the road on foot and into the white house. 

The Pennsylvanians had been at the front for twenty-four 
hours, and were preparing to join the reserves, the First 
Colorado Regiment having been ordered to relieve them. By 
eight o'clock this change had been made, and the Colorados 
and the Utah men were all in place and impatient for their 
work to begin. The quiet, recently so grateful, was now 
most irritating to the nerves. It was like waiting to see 
where the lightning from a rapidly approaching storm is 
going to strike, and the silence was as strange and foreboding 

*37 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

as the hush of nature before the bursting of a tempest. We 
noticed that the embrasures on the water battery under 
the stone fort were no longer darkened by the muzzles of the 
field pieces which had so often annoyed us. This was signifi- 
cant, and did not look like business. The insurgent gun, 
which had sullenly pounded away for a time was now quiet, 
and not a shot was heard. 

General Babcock came up about nine o'clock, bringing the 
last instructions which, as far as I can remember, were for 
General Greene to send a regiment forward as soon as the 
bombardment had inflicted any serious damage on the stone 
fort and on the neighboring works. Still we did not yet 
know for sure whether there would be any bombardment, 
as great masses of vapor and heavy showers of rain were 
drifting across the water, and we could not even see Cavite 
and the fleet there. We did not expect anything until ten 
o'clock, and were killing time as best we could, occasionally 
studying the water, now a horizonless expanse of gray, when 
out of the mist to the southwest emerged the ugly and aggres- 
sive shape of the Monterey silently steaming along, her two 
long forward guns pointing Manila-wards and projecting 
like the antennae of a huge beetle. First another and then a 
third and a fourth warship came in sight, as if following in 
the wake of the monitor at equal intervals apart, then the 
fifth, a little nearer inshore, which we at once recognized as 
the Olympia. It was then just a half hour before the time set 
for the bombardment to begin, and the nearest vessel was 
quite two miles from the stone fort. 

Scarcely had we made out the flagship before there burst 
from her side a great whirling mass of smoke, gleaming 
White against the dull gray background of mist and rain, 
sweeping along the water and then rising high in the air in 
the shape of a great cumulus cloud, which completely hid 
the vessel from our sight. A second or two of suspense, and 
then came two loud reports in quick succession followed by 

138 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the tearing sound of shells, startlingly close at hand. A 
great splash of water just abreast the fort and a fan-shaped 
mass of gray sand rising from the beach marked where the 
vicious messengers had fallen. 

General Babcock hastened to the shore and I followed him. 
There Major Thompson had established his signal station, and 
had built out of sandbags quite a strong little shelter behind 
the old iron hulk, the top of which made an excellent post of 
observation. This station was connected by wire with the 
headquarters of the division and of each brigade, and here 
men and materials were assembled, ready to accompany the 
advance with the field telegraph. 

Now other ships, which we could not recognize in the 
thick atmosphere, opened also on the fort, and at the same 
time there stole up behind us from her station near the camp 
landing, the little captured Callao, almost in the breakers, and 
she at once began to bang away with her machine guns, rat- 
tling out bullets with a noise like striking a piece of bamboo 
with a stick. The tiny launch Barcelo served her one small 
piece in comical emulation of her fellow-captive. There was 
a shower of projectiles from those two ambitious craft 
knocking against the strong walls of the fort, and above the 
confused din on the water near at hand, and the heavy crash 
of the eight and the five-inch guns on the Olympia and her 
consorts, came the loud staccato reports of the Utah guns, 
which were now steadily at work. 

From the signal station, the effect of the large shells could 
be accurately marked, and as Major Thompson saw the 
projectiles strike too low, he said to the signalman in quiet 
but emphatic tones : 

"Flag them 'Higher' ! Flag them 'Higher' !" and the tall 
soldier frantically waved his flag in the strong wind. 

For twenty minutes the great shells came tearing across 
the bay, sometimes a little too high, generally a few feet too 
low, throwing up the earth under the foot of the gray wall 

139 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

like the explosion of a mine. The signalman wig-wagged 
messages without intermission. The mist and rain made it 
impossible for the navy gunners to shoot with accuracy. 
One shell came screaming over our heads and flew away off 
into the distance. We did not hear it burst nor could we 
tell where it came from. The enemy made no sign. 

The roar of the large calibre guns ceased for a while and 
the vessels all slowly approached nearer the fort. We went 
back into the white house, and from the windows watched 
the effect of the Utah guns, which were working with mon- 
otonous regularity. The practice was excellent, and nearly 
every shell struck into the parapet, throwing the little sand 
bags in all directions. Two of the guns were in position 
between the house and the Camino Real, the nearest only 
about ten yards from the building, and not in line with the 
front of it, because the earthwork ranged a few yards to the 
rear of the line, extending to the beach, and met the house 
midway along the west wall. When this piece went off 
bricks and plaster fell about us, and the few remaining 
squares of shell in the windows rattled down as if an earth- 
quake were shaking the building to pieces. Captain Young, 
who was in command of these guns, walked slowly up and 
down, as if he were on his own veranda, and quietly or- 
dered "Shell" or "Shrapnel" as he thought most effective. 
Captain Grant of B Battery was similarly occupied in another 
part of the line, and the range of all the guns was most accu- 
rate. Some of our shrapnel, I fancy, was sent a little high 
and wide, just to encourage the retreat. The Callao and the 
Barcelo were having, all the while, a little spree together. 
They were stripped for a fight and were bound to have it. 
Following the orders of the admiral to land all combustibles, 
Captain Tappan of the Callao had sent ashore a can of 
petroleum and it was reported that there was nothing on the 
Barcelo in the shape of liquids which would burn. 

At ten o'clock the Olympia opened fire again, this time 

140 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

about three thousand yards away, and she had fired but a few 
shots, when out of the fort rose first one and then another 
column of smoke, dust and rubbish. Two eight-inch shells 
had completely passed through the three-foot walls of solid 
masonry, and each of them had exploded in one of the build- 
ings of the fort, completely shattering them and killing sev- 
eral men. 

Back to the shore, then to the house again, and once more 
to the signal station — each point was too interesting to be left 
for an instant. Off in the distance the artillery of the First 
Brigade could be heard. The Astors were having their inn- 
ings. 

At precisely ten minutes past ten General Babcock, who 
had been for some minutes saying over and over again: — 
"They are not replying. It is time to advance!" received 
a message from General Greene, in these words: "My in- 
fantry is advancing. Navy should be notified." Almost be- 
fore we could turn round the whole breastwork swarmed 
with leaping, scrambling figures, who crouched and ran for- 
ward in open order in the underbrush and tall grass. A sec- 
ond line followed not far behind, and soon both were well 
forward in the comparatively open space. A few scraggly 
trees, a strawstack, the thatch of small huts, and the great 
roof of the Malate church made the horizon as seen from the 
rough ground in front of the trenches. From some points 
the flag on the fort could be seen, and the parapet too, but 
the Spanish earthworks were hidden by the intervening 
growth and tangle of small bamboo reeds and bushes. 

As soon as the trenches were vacated, the First California 
Regiment came swinging across the open meadow behind and 
piled themselves up two deep against the breastwork. It 
was most inspiriting to see the determined, eager expres- 
sion in the faces of these great stalwart children of the Pa- 
cific slope as they were rushing up, inspired by that belliger- 



141 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ent ardor so difficult to restrain. They were spoiling for a 
fight. It was written on their faces. 

General Babcock, in whom these rapidly succeeding inci- 
dents had revived the long-forgotten emotions of his early 
soldier life in the Rebellion, carried away, as we all were, by 
the contagious enthusiasm of the moment, greeted them 
warmly, with a hearty, "Boys, you look as if you could eat 
those Spaniards up." "Give us a chance !" they all shouted. 
On the right the firing was still going on and was apparently 
increasing. 

The first and second line were working their way through 
the underbrush, and when the advanced skirmishers reached 
a point whence they could see the enemy's breastworks, they 
knelt and began to fire. Why they were firing, it was by no 
means clear, for we could see no Spaniards in the trenches, 
and no shots were coming from that direction. A messenger 
was hurried off to put a stop to the fusillade. 

The guns of the fleet still kept up their hammering at the 
stone fort, and we began to think that the admiral remem- 
bered the tale of Nelson's blind eye, for no attention was 
paid to our signals, nor to the advance of the Colorado bat- 
talion along the beach, which soon halted and began to turn 
back. Two signalmen ran along the sand, each waving a 
flag. Still the bombardment continued for a weary time and 
did not stop, indeed, until half past ten, full twenty minutes 
after the first line advanced. 

The moment the shells ceased to batter the fort and to 
plough up the surrounding territory, the Colorado men 
streamed up the beach, waded the inlet and scattered all 
around the fort. It was evidently deserted. The signal 
men, who had kept along with the advance, left behind them 
a trail of insulated wire as they went. 

Believing it was all over, as it had probably been prear- 
ranged, I ran back from the inlet where I had been watch- 
ing the crossing, and to the Camino Real to get my pony, 

142 




IN THE AMERICAN TRENCHES — AWAITING THE WORD TO FIRE 




*$s^ 



AMERICAN FLAG RAISED BY LIEUTENANT - COLONEL McCOY, FIRST 
COLORADO VOLUNTEERS 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

annoyed at having, in my excitement, ignored one of the ele- 
mentary rules of the business of correspondent, which is: 
Never let your saddle leave your sight on your horse or off 
him. When I reached the road I found, to my dismay, the 
bullets splashing in the mud and cracking in the bamboo on 
all sides, evidently coming from the vicinity of Blockhouse 
Fourteen. It was no time to be particular about a little mud 
and I was already soaking wet to the waist so I floundered 
down the road in quick time, mounted the pony and hurried 
back. Just as I reached the beach again the ragged bunting 
on the staff of the fort which bore so little resemblance to a 
Spanish flag that we had quite forgotten its existence, flut- 
tered down, and the Stars and Stripes floated in its place. 
Lieutenant-Colonel McCoy, of the Colorado battalion, had 
won the prize for his regiment. The exultant yell which 
swept along our whole line as the bright colors of the flag 
shone out vividly against the gray sky, drowned all other 
sounds with its strident, savage note of victory. By the time 
I had crossed the inlet the sound of music rose on the beach 
and the Colorado band came marching along at a rapid pace 
playing as if on parade and soon took up a position just 
under the fort, where in pauses of the music the bullets could 
be heard singing merrily over their heads. A rattling and 
cracking in the woods behind Blockhouse Fourteen showed 
where the shots were coming from which were now sweeping 
the whole beach, and a more confused medley of reports of 
small-arms and cannon indicated that the focus of interest 
was now along the Singalong road. 

As General Greene did not come up I concluded he had 
gone to the right of the line and I galloped back again down 
the beach, pausing beyond the inlet to watch the manoeuvres 
of the fleet. The whole squadron was closing in towards the 
town, and the Callao and her little sister, the Barcelo, were 
well up the shore opposite Malate, apparently watching for 
another opportunity to continue their target practice. The 

143 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Albany, too, was in the procession and was slowly steaming 
along just outside the line of breakers, as nearly as I could 
judge, just about in the outer edge of the line of fire. The 
men on board were preoccupied with something, for I could 
not get any reply to my signals, and, as it was none too 
healthy where I was standing, I gave up attempting to make 
connection with my own naval force and went in search of 
the general. He soon came along and said that General 
MacArthur was meeting with stubborn resistance and that 
the only thing for us to do was to push on and get up to the 
city as soon as possible. So we all rode rapidly up the beach 
and beyond the fort upon the high bank along shore which 
was honeycombed with rifle pits and zigzags. 

Some two hundred yards north of the fort across an open 
space interrupted only by a small building where the shore 
end of the cable enters, the garden walls, barricaded houses 
and a high sand-bag breastwork made the second line of de- 
fences across the Camino Real, and, from this short distance, 
looked formidable enough, particularly as a party of Span- 
ish sharpshooters caught sight of us and, opening on us at 
short range, obliged us to retire. One or two of us who were 
a little slow in going back were warned by the puffs of dust 
which rose uncomfortably near our feet that the Spaniards 
were getting the range pretty accurately, and so we hitched 
our horses in the rifle pits and waited for the storm to blow 
over. Two or three infantrymen dodged in with us and tried 
to pick off the sharpshooters, but they showed themselves too 
short a time to make a good mark and as no smoke disclosed 
their stations our men ceased to waste ammunition on them. 
Major Jones, the active quartermaster of Camp Dewey, who 
was as irrepressible as a school boy out on a holiday, tried 
in vain to locate our annoying neighbors from the elevated 
position of a stone sentry box at an angle of the fort and at 
last Captain Mott and I tired of the onesided game, and, irri- 
tated by the useless resistance, clambered over the parapet 

144 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

of the water battery and wandered around under the fort 
and across the small green meadow which was covered with 
the miscellaneous rubbish which is always found in the wake 
of a retreating enemy. 

The base of the fort was piled high at places with a mor- 
raine of broken stone and mortar from the parapet above and 
from the ragged excavations which the great projectiles had 
made in the masonry. A huge, brightly polished shell, still 
warm, lay on the turf near the angle of the fort as if it 
had been carefully deposited there by hand. 

Finding a convenient gap in the high sandbag breastwork 
where it met the fort on the east side, we clambered over it 
and found General Greene and two or three members of his 
staff already there. From this point we could look along the 
rear of the Spanish lines to the point where the strong sand- 
bag breastwork turned off at an angle towards Blockhouse 
Fourteen. Beyond the bridge, the parapet of which had been 
roughly treated by the Utah guns, a few broken toys of the 
War-God lay in the trench and at our feet near the wall of 
the fort one still groaning from an ugly wound in the head 
was tossing about on the ground. Our ambulance men rolled 
the poor wretch upon a blanket and carried him to the rear. 

A spattering fire continued from the houses of Malate and 
once in a while a heavier drift of bullets would come spas- 
modically from the woods to the right. Now our men began 
to stream along the Camino Real, across the bridge and up 
the road towards the houses, not at all as if they were ad- 
vancing upon an enemy but as if on march, with their coffee 
coolers along and their rifles at right shoulder shift. In one 
of the showers of Mauser bullets a party of infantrymen 
made a break for the gap through which we had climbed, pre- 
paring, as they sought cover of the sandbags, to have a crack 
at the invisible enemy, but the general sternly ordered them 
back and they went off with rather a discouraged look as 
much as to say that it was poor fun to march up into fire and 

io 145 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

not have the privilege of using a rifle. It was not the best of 
fun standing there, either, without the excitement of seeing 
the enemy who were hidden away almost within hailing dis- 
tance, and it was not a little disconcerting to be unable to see 
any smoke in front of us. Waiting until he was sure of the 
direction of the most annoying fire, the general ordered it to 
be returned by a few volleys and then turning to his staff, 
said: 

"Now get the horses !" 

One of the staff, thinking aloud and remembering that the 
horses were in rather a warm corner, said : 

"I will if lean!" 

Language followed and Captain Mott and I scurried off 
to our rifle pits again. Major Jones had disappeared with 
his pony and was probably half way up to the walled town. 
The Spanish sharpshooters were still enjoying their sniping 
and our appearance on the parapet of the water battery put 
them on the alert again. We had to make a dash for it so 
we unhitched the ponies and dragged them after us down 
the steep bank to the beach so as to get behind the breast- 
work which ran to high water mark. I started first and 
came in for only the first flight of the compliments but my 
companion who was a half dozen yards behind me seemed 
to give them the range and as we almost literally tumbled 
around the end of the breastwork into a group of infantry- 
men in shelter there, we felt as if we had disturbed a hor- 
net's nest in a hay field. 

We met the general behind the fort and at that moment 
the Californians came marching up the beach, dripping from 
their wade through and their ardor only stimulated and in- 
creased by the sound of the whistling bullets. The Colorado 
band which had been ringing the changes on patriotic airs 
now struck up in lively measure "There'll Be a Hot Time in 
the Old Town To-night," calling forth a chorus from the 
Californians which made the old fort echo and drove all se- 

146 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

rious thoughts from our minds. The picnic spirit was on us 
again and as we galloped up to the houses which a moment 
before we had been regarding almost with apprehension, we 
only thought of the old walled town and longed to be there 
without delay. 

Leaving the beach under the garden wall of the first bar- 
ricaded house which the enemy's sharpshooters had occu- 
pied we entered the Camino Real behind the high breastwork 
of the second line of defences. The broad, straight thorough- 
fare was now busy with our men dashing across by squads 
from one side to the other and peppering the retreating 
Spaniards whenever they caught sight of them. Now they 
climbed into the garden of a pleasant villa, now they dodged 
among the plantains and behind the wattled fences of the 
native huts, always advancing and firing. Deliberately and 
stubbornly the scattered enemy retired from corner to cor- 
ner, from cover to cover, pausing only to pump out bullets as 
they went. 

Across the road two or three hundred yards from the sec- 
ond line of defences a strong sandbag breastwork blocked 
the street, but the Californians and the Eighteenth Regulars 
in front, the Nebraska regiment wading in the shallow water 
along shore and the Colorado battalions which were rushing 
the parallel street to the east made it too uncomfortable in 
a few minutes for the defenders of the breastwork and they 
scuttled away every man for himself and left the way open 
to the square of Malate where stands the large church which 
for so many days had been to us a prominent landmark of 
the suburb. 

Here General Greene halted his men and reformed the 
regiments which had been necessarily broken in formation 
during the advance. The small open space was soon packed 
with our men and then the forward move was begun again. 
A few insurgents suddenly appeared, their rifles still warm. 
They were promptly disarmed and sent to the rear. Natives 

i47 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

began to emerge from their hiding places and to jabber un- 
intelligible words of friendly welcome, offering glasses of 
water with bits of brown sugar and bunches of fresh ba- 
nanas in sign of amicable intentions. 

It was now exactly noon and although we were not yet in 
sight of the walled town we knew it was but a short mile 
to the gates. Pushing rapidly on up the street we met a 
civilian who shouted : 

"The Spaniards have raised a white flag!" 

Without waiting for more the general, followed by a half 
dozen of us who were mounted, galloped up the street past 
the squads who were busy clearing the houses of Ermita of 
the annoying sharpshooters and out into the great open 
Campo de Bagumabayan between Ermita and the walled 
town. The public promenade called the Luneta, a drive in 
the shape of an ancient hippodrome, occupies the larger part 
of the space between the Camino Real and the bay and is 
notable chiefly because during the period of the recent in- 
surrection the usual daily entertainment of a band concert 
was occasionally varied by a public execution of the captured 
insurgents. 

As we rode out of the shelter of the houses into this open 
space there was no one in sight in front of us. The dreary 
waste of the Luneta, with its shabby bandstand, its scrubby 
trees and ugly lampposts, was quite deserted and uninviting 
in its baldness. The gray walls of the citadel frowned omin- 
ously directly in front four hundred yards away and on a 
prominent corner a great white sheet, hastily tied by its cor- 
ners to a swaying bamboo pole planted in the turf, fluttered 
lazily in the wind. To the left, as we galloped on, we glanced 
once at the great grassy mounds which concealed two of the 
famous twenty-four centimetre Krupp guns and to the right 
and further away we noticed, with an instinct of suspicion, a 
masonry demi-lune rising in threatening solidity above the 
marshy level of the meadow. Still further to the right and 

148 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

beyond this we could see, as we advanced, the parapet of the 
high walls covered with Spanish infantrymen, particularly 
opposite the houses which cluster along the Paco road where 
it meets the broad esplanade, the Calzada de Vidal. 

The moment we came out into this open space, a familiar 
and annoying cracking began all around us and the gravel 
began to jump on every side. We urged our little ponies to 
their full speed but the poor beasts were unshod and they 
hobbled painfully over the rough hard ground and put no 
heart into their gait. The farther we went on the more we 
seemed to become the target of the enemy and we could not 
always tell where the shots came from, behind us or from 
the right or even from the walls of the town. Our little party 
had none of the outward signs of authority about it but re- 
sembled a group of irregular cavalry more than a general 
with his staff. Every one wore a rain coat or a poncho and 
all were splashed from head to foot with mud. I thought 
as we rode along that it was not altogether the fault of the 
enemy if they did not understand at once that our mission 
was the first move towards the cessation of hostilities. 

In a few minutes we reached a heavy barricade of railway 
iron across the sea front promenade under the low battery 
at the southwest angle of the citadel. Here at a small em- 
brasure, from which a Krupp field piece pushed out its shin- 
ing muzzle, an officer and a private soldier appeared as we 
drew near. General Greene asked him if the town had 
surrendered, and he replied that he did not know, as he had 
simply been ordered to put up the white flag. In response 
to the general's request to be permitted to enter the town, 
now that the white flag indicated a suspension of hostilities, 
he directed us to go along the Calzada to the first bridge over 
the moat at the Puerta Real and there we would probably be 
met by an officer. The shooting in our direction had ceased 
when we halted at the barricade, but we could hear a con- 
fused firing still going on among the houses of Ermita and 

149 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

along the Paco road. Just before we turned away to gallop 
towards the bridge, we saw, to our relief, the brown uniforms 
of our men as they assembled in front of the houses of Er- 
mita and heard their welcome volleys answering the fire of 
the scattered enemy. Then we saw a small brown mass of our 
men quietly march out of the Paco road and across the Cal- 
zada, and form under the large trees near the moat only a 
few yards away from the parapet crowded with Spanish sol- 
diers. Hastening up to them we found it was H company 
of the Twenty-third Regulars under Captain O'Connor, a 
veteran of the civil war, which, in the confusion of the ad- 
vance over a rough country, had become separated from its 
battalion. The gallant captain had led his men steadily on 
under the cross fire of the enemy until his progress was ef- 
fectually stopped by the walls of the town and there he stood 
awaiting orders. 

Looking down the Paco road we saw to our surprise that it 
was filled with Spanish infantry for a long distance. Captain 
O'Connor explained that this was the force retreating from 
Santa Ana and that he had halted them and had refused to 
let them enter the town until he had been ordered to do so. 
A California battalion now came up from across the campo 
and halted just beyond the bridge. The firing still went 
on near at hand. Loud calls for a surgeon came from the 
Californians and the men declared that they had received a 
volley from the city walls. This no one could verify because 
the smokeless powder gave no sign. It was easy to see, 
however, that the Spaniards on the walls, four or five thou- 
sand in number, were in a state of excitement and might 
start in to wipe out our small force at any moment. Besides 
this important force on our front there were several battal- 
ions quite as close at hand in the rear and a detachment of 
the veteran guard of Manila as well. Beyond and behind 
these troops there was a confusion of men, mostly in white, 
running across the road and a continuous sound of firing. 

*5° 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

It was a critical moment and no one could foretell what 
might happen. A single careless shot might start an annihi- 
lating fire and bring about a terrible disaster. 

General Greene looked anxiously down the road. "I can 
see our flag down there I" he exclaimed. 

I wanted to see it very much and tried hard to make it out 
but could not do so and I told the general I thought he was 
mistaken. We looked again and again through our glasses 
and in a few minutes we saw the brown uniforms of our men 
far down the road and then the fluttering colors ! The situa- 
tion was saved. The general now ordered the Spanish of- 
ficers to march their men into the town. Soon after they 
had disappeared in the covered way beyond the bridge, a car- 
riage and pair with two men in livery came dashing out and 
a note was handed to the general. Taking with him Captain 
Bates, his chief of staff, he entered the carriage and drove 
into the town, leaving orders for the troops to remain where 
they were until his return and under no circumstances to 
open fire unless they were attacked. 



CHAPTER XI 

It was now shortly after two o'clock and the white flag 
had been flying since midday and the firing had not yet 
stopped. What was going on we could not understand. The 
Spaniards on the parapet were eagerly watching something 
off to the south, often gesticulating and pointing, but nothing 
developed. Meanwhile the troops of the Second Brigade kept 
coming up. The two batteries of the Third Heavy Artillery 
marched down the Paco road as fresh as if they were coming 
in from a guard mount in the rain and Captain O'Hara told 
me with a humorous expression that they had been on a 
coffee-coolers' parade and had not even loaded their rifles. 
The Pennsylvanians followed, tired and bedraggled after 
their twenty-four hours in the trenches, and soon the whole 
brigade was massed in front of the Puerta Real. All had 
heard the firing on the right which had been going on for 
several hours but no one, not even the company of the 
Twenty-third, knew anything of the advance of General 
MacArthur's brigade. 

What had actually happened on the right of our line was 
this. The Astor Battery and a Utah gun had been sent up 
to the front near Blockhouse Fourteen on Friday evening, 
as I have before related. Finding the insurgents unwilling 
to give up their positions, they had passed the night among 
the native huts and waited for the developments of the morn- 
ing. Their trouble began early enough, for the first insur- 
gent gun which startled us on our way to the front awoke 
the Spaniards to activity and they began a fusillade which 
at that close range was very troublesome. As soon as possi- 
ble after breakfast Captain March cut a path through the 

152 




THE GUN WHICH DESTROYED SPANISH BLOCK-HOUSE NO. 14 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

bamboo and dragged two of his guns up to a group of na- 
tive huts directly opposite the Singalong road where it makes 
a sharp turn to the west to meet the Pasig road in front of 
Blockhouse Fourteen. He placed one of the guns in a has- 
tily constructed embrasure and the other he was obliged to 
drag under one of the huts, almost directly in range of the 
first gun, because this was the only place where there was 
an opening through which he could fire. 

When the bombardment by the fleet began the three pieces 
of artillery were set to work, the Utah men directing their 
attention chiefly on Blockhouse Fourteen, a short two hun- 
dred yards away, and the Astors throwing shell first into 
this and then into Blockhouse Thirteen, a large structure 
with thick stone walls on the west side of the Singalong 
road. The Spanish gunners had the range of the insurgent 
positions very accurately, for the first shell they fired struck 
one of the Astor guns and wounded three men, one of them, 
Private Dunn, mortally. Fortunately the shell did not ex- 
plode or the story would be different. The Thirteenth Min- 
nesota Regiment was supporting the artillery and when the 
converging fire from the three pieces made the blockhouse 
untenable they rushed across the narrow open space and took 
possession of this stronghold with its adjacent earthworks 
and captured a number of prisoners. The Twenty-third 
Regulars advanced across the open to the left and entered 
the line of the enemy's entrenchments, meeting with no very 
serious opposition. 

Shortly after this incident which was attended by slight 
casualties, Blockhouse Thirteen was seen to be in flames and 
a general advance along the Singalong road was ordered. 
Abreast the flaming building a strong entrenchment with two 
embrasures was encountered, but the Astor men quickly broke 
down the parapet and, partly filling the ditch, dragged and 
lifted their guns over the obstruction into the road beyond. 
In the blockhouse were stored thousands of rounds of small- 

153 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

arms ammunition and this was exploding with the noise of 
a continuous fusillade, causing those who were not in the im- 
mediate vicinity to believe that a vigorous resistance was 
met at this point. The Minnesota regiment pushed steadily 
forward in open order through the gardens and swamps, and 
driving the enemy's rear guard before them, soon occupied 
the village of Singalong where General MacArthur immedi- 
ately established his headquarters. 

This village is an important one, containing a large num- 
ber of houses and a large church standing in a broad open 
space partly surrounded by stone walls. Near the church 
on both sides of the roads are substantially built shops and 
residences and beyond these, toward the town, many native 
huts are hidden away among the bamboo along the road 
which makes a gentle turn to the northwest and disappears 
in the dense growth of trees. When the village was occu- 
pied, a sharp fire was met from the bamboo thicket beyond 
the village and it soon developed into such a serious obstacle 
that a decided check was put on the advance. There had 
been no report of another line of defences on this road, al- 
though it was known to have been the scene of several bloody 
conflicts between the Spaniards and the insurgents. From 
the firing it was certain, however, that there was a strong 
defence of some kind not far down the road. Two of the 
Astor guns had kept along with the firing line and, when the 
check came, Captain March and ten or twelve of the men 
drew their revolvers and dashed to the front. Scarcely had 
they left the village before Sergeant Sillman fell with a bullet 
in his knee, and First Sergeant Holmes, bending over to 
give him assistance, was shot in the mouth and instantly 
killed. Sergeant Crimmins, who went to the relief of Pri- 
vate Hayden, who was wounded, was also instantly killed, 
and, before the little band had covered fifty yards, they had 
lost two killed and five wounded, more than half their num- 
ber. Nothing was to be accomplished by this movement, so 

154 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Captain March ordered the men to take cover and make 
their way back to the village. 

There was plenty of shelter in the houses and behind the 
walls and as the retreat of the enemy was a foregone con- 
clusion there was no necessity for reckless exposure. But 
the pent-up ardor was not readily cooled off and it was al- 
most impossible to restrain the men even after the disastrous 
experience of the Astors. A line of Minnesota men lay 
across the open road so crowded together that they could 
scarcely handle their rifles and, exposed to the severe fire at 
close range, lost heavily and to no purpose. 

The character of the obstacle remained a mystery until 
Captain Sawtelle of General MacArthur's staff and Captain 
March made a reconnoissance, and found it to be a heavily 
barricaded house with a sandbag breastwork across the road 
not over two hundred yards beyond the village. Responding 
to a call for volunteers, a party of Astor and Minnesota men, 
led by the above mentioned officers, made a dash up the road 
in a lull in the firing and found the stronghold deserted. The 
way was then open to the town, and the brigade advanced 
and took up its assigned position in Malate and Ermita rais- 
ing the flag at half past three or fully three hours after the 
second brigade had occupied these suburbs. 

During the check at Singalong, many large bands of in- 
surgents pushed forward on the flanks and, avoiding the 
guards which had been left at the designated points, moved 
rapidly towards the town, sometimes crowding in with our 
troops in such a way that they had to be elbowed aside as 
they marched along. When the brigade was swung round 
to the left to take its position near the seashore, the insur- 
gents, now increased to a force of several thousand, swarmed 
over the rice fields between Ermita and Paco and, finding 
themselves neck and neck with the retreating Spaniards, 
promptly opened fire on them and quite an active little battle 
took place near the Observatory, in the course of which both 

iS5 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

parties lost quite heavily and one of the insurgent leaders, 
Mariana de la Cruz, was killed. The Spaniards hurried on 
towards the town and escaped further conflict by coming into 
our lines. It was the skirmishing between these troops and 
the insurgents which was visible from the walls of the town 
and caused the confusion down the Paco road which we were 
unable to account for. 

General Greene was absent in town over an hour and the 
firing had gradually subsided until no more was heard. He 
returned in the same carriage and informing us that General 
Merritt was expected every moment at the Ayuntamiento 
or municipal building where the peace negotiations were in 
progress, General Babcock decided to go into the walled 
town and kindly asked me to accompany him. Leaving my 
pony in the care of a friendly correspondent who was un- 
mounted, I entered the carriage with the general and we 
drove confidently over the bridge and through the covered 
way to the Puerta Real. The gate was shut and the sentinels 
on the parapet warned us off. In vain we argued and ex- 
postulated, nothing would move them even to send for an 
officer and we had to turn back. Believing there was some 
confusion of orders, since General Greene had been permitted 
to enter and to come out by this gate, we concluded to 
drive to the next one, and rattled off along the Calzada to- 
wards the botanical gardens, now a neglected waste covered 
with weeds and stumps of trees, meeting as we went several 
private carriages filled with Europeans waving their hats 
and cheering lustily. 

Suddenly there appeared from a side street just in front 
of us a band of twenty or thirty armed natives carrying a 
large insurgent flag, and a short distance behind them was 
massed a large body of insurgents apparently just halted. 
As we approached a few of the natives knelt down and 
covered us with their rifles and the rest of the advanced 
guard began to spread out right and left. General Babcock 

156 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

alighted and shouted : "We are Americans !" and they held 
their fire but did not lower their pieces In a minute or two 
an officer came to the front and, recognizing the American 
uniform, held up his hand to indicate that it was all right 
and ordered the men to stand up. We started to drive on 
again but the officer waved us back and the men again took 
aim at us and the coachman, who was in Spanish livery, was 
only too ready to turn the carriage around and drive us back. 
Reporting the incident to General Greene, he immediately 
led the Nebraska regiment to the scene of our trouble and 
the giant volunteers crowded the insurgents off the Calzada 
much the same as a line of policemen clears a city street by 
sheer weight and show of authority. We then drove along 
without opposition to the Puerta Parian, one of the largest 
gates of the town, approached through a long covered way. 
Here we met with the same reception as at the first gate and 
the situation was only different because we were far away 
from any of our troops and quite out of sight among the 
high embankments. The sentries ordered us to keep off but 
we slowly advanced until we were within twenty-five or 
thirty yards of the gate trusting to the impressive appear- 
ance of our borrowed livery and the well known turn out. 
After some delay and much parleying, an officer was brought 
who insisted that he had the strictest orders to admit no one. 
Just at that moment a wounded Spaniard was brought into 
the covered way accompanied by an officer and several men. 
They were also refused admittance and we therefore turned 
around and followed them back. We began now to under- 
stand that the gates were shut for fear of the insurgents en- 
tering the walled town, a movement which, from the Span- 
ish point of view, seemed likely enough, since the natives 
were seen advancing shoulder to shoulder with our own 
men. 

While we were delayed at this gate the Second Brigade 
moved along the Calzada and over the Puente de Espana and 

i57 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the Puente Colgante into the business and residential quar- 
ters and strong guards were placed at every point. On the 
south side of the Pasig the barracks and hospital and en- 
gineers' offices were taken possession of, and as we drove 
again towards the Luneta it was a gratifying spectacle to see 
everywhere in the immediate vicinity masses of brown-clad 
men standing in formation awaiting orders while squads and 
files moved away in every direction. 

Remembering that the railway iron barricade across the 
water-front promenade was apparently a movable affair, for 
I had noticed small iron wheels on a track underneath it, I 
suggested that we try to enter at that point as it was farthest 
away from where the insurgents were seen. When we 
reached it we found it had already been moved back a foot 
or two and Major Simpson and Major Wads worth of Gen- 
eral Merritt's staff, were just squeezing out as we drove up. 
We four, together with two or three natives and a friendly 
Spanish soldier, put our joint weight on the barricade and 
rolled it aside far enough to allow our carriage to enter and 
then blocked the wheels. Weeks after we noticed it still in 
the same position. The road was now open for traffic and a 
crowd of loaded carramatos and people on foot streamed 
out across the Luneta towards Ermita. Meeting with no fur- 
ther opposition, and, indeed anticipating none, we drove rap- 
idly through the Puerta Santa Lucia which was wide open 
but guarded by Spanish sentinels and to the great shady 
square in front of the cathedral. The neighboring streets 
were packed full of Spanish soldiers looking as cool and 
neat and dry as possible, a notable contrast to our own men 
we had just left. They made way for the well-known turn- 
out of the governor-general and we alighted at the entrance 
of the Ayuntamiento or city hall, an imposing edifice on the 
east side of the cathedral square or Plaza de Palacio. One 
or two Oregon men were keeping informal guard at the stair- 
case which was thronged with Spanish officials in uniform 

158 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and civilians looking none the worse for the long siege. Fol- 
lowing the current of people we soon came to the offices and 
in the corner one we found General Merritt, Colonel Whit- 
tier, and other members of headquarters staff, all in earnest 
conference with the Spanish officers. 

It was by no means an impressive moment. The absence 
of formality, particularly on our side, made it impossible to 
realize that it was a historic incident. I had seen other capit- 
ulations and was a little disappointed that this one prom- 
ised to be neither dramatic nor picturesque. Still it was 
exceedingly interesting because of the striking contrasts pre- 
sented in the crowded office where everybody seemed to be 
talking at once and every one appeared to have as much to 
say as the next man. Then, elbowing one another like bro- 
kers in the stock exchange, were generals and colonels, aide- 
de-camps and civilians, types of two distinct races, the rep- 
resentative democrat and the born aristocrat, the easy man- 
nered citizen of the great republic and the ostentatiously 
formal official of a monarchy. The differences were wide 
and suggestive, and the air of irrepressible youth and vigor 
about our officers, many of whom stood a full head above 
the Spaniards, made the others look worn out and decadent. 
None of our officers were in full dress uniform, most of them 
wearing the gray linen, although all had swords which they 
promptly threw aside as useless encumbrances. The Span- 
ish were in their most formal attire, with broad red sashes, 
richly ornamented swords, a dazzling array of decorations 
and glittering insignia of rank. A casual observer would have 
come to the conclusion that we were suing for peace at the 
hands of these high and mighty officials. The most con- 
spicuous figure among the Spaniards was the newly ap- 
pointed Governor-General and Captain-General Jaudenes, 
whose uncongenial duty it was to surrender the town and 
his army, knowing all the time that he was being made a 
scapegoat for the failure of others. He is a man of unusu- 

iS9 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ally small stature, scarcely over five feet in height, and has 
rather the air of a professor than of a general who has com- 
manded a division. The late governor-general, Augustin, 
Admiral Montojo, General Rizzo and many others were pres- 
ent at this preliminary conference and the discussion was 
prolonged and wearisome on the details of the rough draft 
of the capitulation articles, which, after all, were held to bind 
no one but were intended to be a guarantee of the cessation 
of hostilities. 

For my own part I could not see the necessity of an elabo- 
rately phrased set of articles, for the town had long been at 
the mercy of our fleet and they could expect in reason noth- 
ing more than could be tersely expressed in a single sen- 
tence. But in this, as in most of our dealings with the Span- 
iards, we were far more generous and lenient than they ex- 
pected or than was good for either party, probably because 
we felt that the enormous superiority of our strength obliged 
us to be magnanimous even to the point of weakness. The 
Spaniards in Manila had learned to appreciate this senti- 
ment long before the surrender and they made the most of 
their opportunities. Countless individual acts after the capit- 
ulation proved that the general impression among them was 
that we were vastly inferior in every quality except physical 
strength and they bore themselves as if they had been con- 
ferring a great favor on us by condescending to surrender. 
A little more formality on our part, a proper assumption of 
authority and a rigid definition of the recognized rights of 
the conqueror would have saved a deal of trouble not only 
with the Spaniards but with the natives. Here as in many 
other parts of the world the man who allows himself to be 
got the better of is never respected and authority is largely 
based on outward display. 

While we had been waiting outside the walls, quite a little 
drama had been going on in the town. Shortly after the 
white flag had been shown, Lieutenant-Colonel Whittier and 

160 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Flag-Lieutenant Brumby came ashore in the Belgian con- 
sul's launch and had been driven up to the Ayuntamiento 
where they met the Spanish officers and were shown a draft 
of the proposed terms of surrender. Lieutenant Brumby 
shortly returned to the fleet with a message to General Mer- 
ritt leaving Colonel Whittier to hold and to occupy the 
walled town by himself. It was not a very agreeable situa- 
tion for the plans of the day had apparently miscarried some- 
how and the contest was still going on a mile or so away, 
notwithstanding the fact that the white flag was flying. On 
the other hand the great Spanish ensign was still displayed 
on the water-front, and, although the result of all this was 
inevitable, no one was quite sure what was going to happen 
before the formal surrender actually took place. The firing 
approached nearer and nearer the walls, detachments of re- 
treating troops assembled in the square bringing reports that 
the insurgents were advancing side by side with the Ameri- 
cans. The Spanish officers grew nervous and apprehensive, 
knowing all too well what would happen if the armed natives 
made their way inside the citadel. At last it was suggested 
that a note should be sent to the general commanding the 
American forces near the walled cown asking him to order a 
cessation of hostilities. Colonel Whittier wrote a brief letter 
to this effect and it was sent out and handed to General 
Greene, as before mentioned, who decided to come in and 
report the situation and also explain that he was unable to 
occupy the district north of the Pasig as long as the confu- 
sion brought about by the check to General MacArthur's ad- 
vance was unsettled. It was fortunate, by the way, that 
General Greene's brigade remained before the walls of the 
town, for except for their presence the whole insurgent army 
from the province of Cavite would have been massed there. 
General Merritt with his headquarters' staff and two com- 
panies of the Second Oregon regiment on the Zafiro, fol- 
lowed by the Kwonghoi with six more companies of the 
ii 161 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

same organization, was off the mouth of the Pasig when 
Colonel Whittier's message reached him and he decided to 
land at once. Finding no carriage awaiting him, as his com- 
ing was not announced, and without waiting for an escort, 
he walked up from the river front, accompanied by a few 
staff officers. The Oregon men were soon landed in small 
boats and about half past four o'clock, while the discussion 
was still going on in the Ayuntamiento, we saw from the 
windows the main body of the detachment enter the square, 
make their way through the solid mass of Spanish troops 
and form a line around the square, facing outward. Shortly 
before this incident I learned, in conversation with some 
Spanish officers, that the German consul was going to send 
off a dispatch to his government that same afternoon and 
as I had been gradually building up a descriptive telegram 
during the day, I hastily closed it with a brief statement of 
existing conditions and, securing the services of one of the 
employees of the Ayuntamiento, sent him off with a letter to 
the German consul requesting him to forward the enclosure to 
Hong Kong. It is scarcely necessary to add that I never 
heard of the despatch again. The Kaiserin Augusta left her 
moorings and sailed away as soon as possible after the sign- 
ing of the preliminary terms of capitulation, carrying the 
late governor-general, Augustin, and his family, Admiral 
von Diederichs omitting, in his hurry to depart, the usual 
courtesies to the commanding officers of the victorious 
forces. On arriving at Hong Kong a brief despatch to the 
Daily Telegraph and to Reuter's Agency was sent ashore, 
but the Germans were persistently reticent on the subject of 
the events occurring at Manila. 

It was about five o'clock before an agreement was reached 
on the rough draft of the articles of capitulation, and all this 
time the large Spanish ensign was flying on the northwest 
bastion of the walled town, visible all over the bay and in 
full sight of our troops at Ermita and Malate. General Mer- 

162 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ritt had instructed Major Sturgis of his staff to put up the 
headquarters flag on the Ayuntamiento and the Stars and 
Stripes in the place of the Spanish flag as soon as the signa- 
tures were affixed to the much discussed document and the 
major had invited me to assist him. While we were stand- 
ing there waiting, Lieutenant Brumby, who had brought 
ashore a very large new flag, went up to General Merritt 
and apparently asked a question. We heard the general re- 
ply: "All right! Go ahead!" and the lieutenant with his 
men hurriedly left the building. Major Sturgis who looked 
rather disconcerted asked if he should put up the headquar- 
ters flag. 

"Certainly," replied the general, "and the other one too !" 

"We are euchred out of the Spanish flag," said the major 
as we left the room. "The navy has got the better of us. 
But perhaps we can find another flagstaff." 

Shouldering our way through the crowd of excited Span- 
iards, we found a pole fastened to a balcony overlooking the 
square, and Major Sturgis hoisted the blue flag which indi- 
cated that this was now the headquarters of the Eighth Army 
Corps. The crowd below gazed silently at the fluttering 
bunting and one officer at our elbow sadly remarked : 

"This is a bitter moment for us !" 

As we were hurrying down the staircase with the other 
flag, a messenger came to report that Lieutenant Brumby 
was likely to have trouble because the Spaniards were very 
much excited and were taking a menacing attitude. The 
major asked for a company of the Oregon men to be sent 
off to the bastion at once, and we hastened on, hearing the 
rapid tramp of the men behind us. When we arrived we 
found the Spanish ensign had disappeared and the bright 
new red, white and blue bravely flying in its place while 
Lieutenant Brumby and one or two others were quietly 
standing at the base of the flagstaff to have their photographs 
taken. At the bottom of the ramp leading up to the parapet 

163 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

there was a crowd of about a hundred men and women, some 
of them ostentatiously weeping and not a few gesticulating 
wildly. We went in among them and asked what the trou- 
ble was and a half dozen sobbing women ejaculated with 
spasmodic volubility that the Americans were going to turn 
them out of their houses. We assured them that this was 
not so and, after our earnest protestations that no one would 
be disturbed, they dried their tears and became so friendly 
as to offer us cigarettes. This incident, trifling as it was, 
was made much of in the newspapers at the time, the report 
being current that the citizens attempted to resist the hoisting 
of the flag and that a serious disturbance was only averted 
by the timely arrival of our troops. 

On returning to the square, we had to push our way past 
crowds of Spanish infantry slowly moving towards the 
cathedral. Many of them were in a hysterical state of ex- 
citement, tearing off their red and yellow hat-bands and 
cockades and even their marks of rank and trampling them 
in the mud. They paid no attention to us, however, and we 
were soon back in the Ayuntamiento, where the soldiers, 
now prisoners of war, had already begun to pile their rifles 
and ammunition at the foot of the staircase. As fast as this 
was done they quietly marched away to the barracks and the 
churches, where they took up their quarters. 

The Spanish officials had now departed, the crowd in the 
Ayuntamiento had dispersed, and the excitement naturally 
consequent on the event of the surrender was fast subsiding, 
when a great cloud of smoke was seen rising above the build- 
ings in the direction of the river. Hastening to the landing 
place, I saw a large Spanish transport which was anchored 
in the river near the harbormaster's office burning so fiercely 
that she was sure to sink within a few minutes. This was 
the last notable incident of the capture of the town and one 
which is scarcely to the honor of the individuals who are re- 
sponsible for it. It was an act of spite which, while charac- 

164 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

teristic of the spirit which was almost universal among the 
Spaniards in Manila, was probably committed without the 
knowledge, or at least without the orders, of the authorities. 
It was far too flagrant an outrage of the rules of civilized 
warfare to be commended openly by those whose duty it was 
to prevent the useless destruction of property, still it was evi- 
dently considered to be rather a smart trick and I was una- 
ble to elicit from a single Spanish officer one word of con- 
demnation of this breach of good faith. 

As night came on we naturally began to think a little of 
our own comforts. Early in the day I had divided my two 
days' rations with others who had a smaller chance of getting 
a meal in the near future than I had and none of the rest of 
the party had as much as a biscuit. Colonel Whittier was, 
however, equal to the occasion. 

"We must get up a nice little dinner now," he said, "to 
celebrate the capture of the town !" 

This seemed about as reasonable a proposition as to ask 
for a mint julep in the desert of Sahara, but the colonel's in- 
stinct was keener than ours and he ridiculed the argument 
that because Manila had been long besieged and there were 
no hotels in the walled town it would be impossible to pro- 
vide a dinner for ten people at this short notice. 

Our first move was to explore the large building. In ad- 
dition to the court rooms and offices, many of which are 
spacious and are elaborately if not quite tastefully decorated, 
we found various smaller rooms fitted up with ornately carved 
bedsteads and other pieces of furniture and observed many 
indications of hasty vacancy by their recent occupants. In 
one of the suites facing a side street, we discovered a large 
and sumptuous bath room, without water, of course, because 
the insurgents held the water works, a small and well ap- 
pointed dining room and a kitchen provided with all nec- 
essary articles. Further, we succeeded in finding the cook 
and several employees who had not yet left the building and 

'65 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

were quite ready to serve the new comers. The cook in- 
formed us that poultry, rice and vegetables were readily ob- 
tained, that there was plenty of wine in the shops near by 
and that the only thing he could not promise to provide was 
bread and this because it was so late in the day and the 
bakeries had all sold out. This did not sound like starvation 
nor suggest a very harrowing picture of the sufferings of the 
besieged. Bread was somehow forthcoming after all and an 
hour or so later we sat down to a meal which, to those of us 
who had been living on commissary supplies in the camp, 
was a perfect triumph of gastronomy. There were ten at the 
table, General Merritt, Colonel Whittier, Captain Mott, Ma- 
jors Simpson, Sturgis, Wadsworth, Bement, Surgeon-Major 
Woodruff and myself. When we were engaged in this very 
pleasant function General Greene appeared to report on the 
final disposition of his troops and did not require much urg- 
ing to join us. It was not the time to prolong a celebration, 
for, although all was quiet enough in the walled town, there 
was still a good deal of trouble all along the Spanish lines 
from Caloocan to Santa Mesa. Reports kept coming in thick 
and fast that the insurgents were attacking the Spaniards 
with great vigor, and several urgent appeals for reinforce- 
ments were sent in. To these requests for assistance, Gen- 
eral Merritt replied that he advised the Spaniards to evacuate 
their positions and retire to the town inside our lines, a pro- 
ceeding which resulted, of course, in the occupancy by the 
armed natives of not only all the Spanish defences but of a 
very large part of the suburbs, for our lines at that time were 
only established in the vicinity of the business and residential 
quarters on the north side of the river and along the Calzada, 
the Paco road, and in Malate and Ermita on the south. 

About ten o'clock Captain Mott and I, mounted on capt- 
ured ponies, accompanied General Greene to his temporary 
headquarters in the Hotel Oriente in Binondo. The streets 
inside the walls were quiet and deserted except by an occa- 

166 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

sional Oregon soldier or one of the veteran guards who were 
still performing their duties as policemen. The Spanish sen- 
tries were still at their posts at the gate and presented arms 
as we passed. Crossing the Puente de Espafia into Binondo 
we found the same quiet prevailing, the shops all shut and 
our soldiers asleep on the sidewalks and in the doorways and 
under what shelter they could find. The Hotel Oriente 
proved to be a hostelry only in name but there was in my 
room a cane-bottomed bedstead without pillows or sheets or 
mosquito netting which after the mud of the camp looked so 
inviting that I scarcely missed the luxury of undressing. 



CHAPTER XII 

In the penetrating light of that bright Sunday morning 
the few guests of the Hotel Oriente looked scandalously dis- 
reputable. Captain Harper, of the Quartermaster's Depart- 
ment, who had been acting as aid to General Greene the day 
before, was detailed to go to Camp Dewey and bring up the 
baggage and before he started we persuaded the landlady 
who had dried her tears of terror which were copiously flow- 
ing when we arrived, to share her coffee and rolls with us in 
the kitchen. She also gave me a needle and thread so I 
could repair the worst damages to my khaki. The general 
whose costume was not quite up to Piccadilly standard, was 
able, on his appearance in the streets to take refuge in the 
glamour of a smart turn-out with coachman and tiger in 
livery which he had annexed for temporary service, but the 
rest of us had to console ourselves that we were no worse off 
than the majority of those who had left Camp Dewey and 
"changed our boarding house," as the soldiers said. I must 
confess I was loath to present myself in a mud stained and 
ragged suit which had evidently dried on me, among the 
spick and span officers of headquarters and the elaborately 
groomed Spaniards but there was no help for it, as the com- 
mission to draw up final articles of capitulation met at nine 
o'clock and the Zaiiro was to sail for Hong Kong as soon 
as the document was signed. 

Our men in the streets had not passed a very comfortable 
night, for heavy showers had frequently swept over the town, 
but their cheerfulness and patience were wonderful to see. 
Everywhere the brawny and rough-looking but good natured 
soldier was in conspicuous evidence, not by his appearance 

168 



o ^ 

* ft 

> G 

> 5 




EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

alone, but by his honest, manly bearing and his orderly be- 
havior. The worn and dirty brown uniforms were seen in 
every house, their wearers speedily making friends with the 
occupants. The absence of any sign of disorder soon gave 
the inhabitants confidence, and in a few hours some small 
native shops were opened and began to drive a market-day 
trade. Sentinels on all sides showed how complete was the 
occupation of this part of the town, and the perfect quiet 
which prevailed proved that the troops were effectively per- 
forming their duties and at the same time were acting the 
part of good citizens and honorable men. As I entered the 
walled town, detachments of Spanish troops were marching 
into every gate on their way to lay down their arms in the 
vestibule of the Ayuntamiento. By midday between three 
and four thousand rifles were piled up there, almost blocking 
the entrance, and a more appropriate place of deposit had to 
be selected. The commission met in one of the side rooms 
adjoining the office of the governor-general, and for weary 
hours discussed the separate items of the rough draft which 
had been signed the day before. 

The Albany, which was supposed to report somewhere on 
the Pasig below the first bridge, had been seen in the river, 
but had disappeared and I could find no trace of her, and I 
began to be anxious about my communications, as it was nec- 
essary to keep my despatch until the very last moment. There 
was nothing to be done, however, as no boats could be hired, 
except to wait and see what turned up. This anxiety did not 
make the day seem shorter, and the interminable discussion 
over the details of the surrender seemed as unnecessary as 
they were wearisome. It was the middle of the afternoon 
before the signatures were finally affixed to the document 
which I here give in full. It scarcely needs comment, but I 
cannot refrain from repeating the axiom that the safest con- 
tract is the simplest one. 

169 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

"Manila, August 14, 1898. 

"The undersigned, having been appointed a commission to 
determine the details of the capitulation of the city and de- 
fences of Manila and its suburbs, and the Spanish forces sta- 
tioned therein, in accordance with the agreement entered 
into the previous day by Major-General Wesley Merritt, 
United States army, American commander-in-chief in the 
Philippines, and his Excellency Don Fermin Jaudenes, act- 
ing general-in-chief of the Spanish army in the Philippines, 
have agreed upon the following: 

"1. The Spanish troops, European and native, capitulate 
with the city and its defences, with all the honors of war, de- 
positing their arms in places designated by the authorities of 
the United States, and remaining in the quarters designated 
and under the orders of their officers and subject to control 
of the aforesaid United States authorities, until the conclu- 
sion of a treaty of peace between the two belligerent nations. 

"All persons included in the capitulation remain at liberty, 
the officers remaining in their respective homes, which shall 
be respected as long as they observe the regulations pre- 
scribed for their government and the laws in force. 

"2. Officers shall retain their side-arms, horses, and pri- 
vate property. 

"3. All public horses and public property of all kinds shall 
be turned over to staff officers designated by the United 
States. 

"4. Complete returns in duplicate of men by organizations, 
and full lists of public property and stores, shall be rendered 
to the United States within ten days from this date. 

"5. All questions relating to the repatriation of officers and 
men of the Spanish forces, and of their families, and of the 
expenses which said repatriation may occasion, shall be re- 
ferred to the government of the United States at Washing- 
ton. Spanish families may leave Manila at any time con- 
venient to them. 

"The return of the arms surrendered by the Spanish forces 
shall take place when they evacuate the city, or when the 
American army evacuates. 

"6. Officers and men included in the capitulation shall be 
supplied by the United States, according to their rank, with 
rations and necessary aid as though they were prisoners of 

170 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

war, until the conclusion of a treaty of peace between the 
United States and Spain. 

"All the funds in the Spanish treasury and all other public 
funds shall be turned over to the authorities of the United 
States. 

"7. This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious 
worship, its educational establishments and its private prop- 
erty of all descriptions, are placed under the special safe- 
guard of the faith and honor of the American army. 

"F. V. Greene, 
"Brigadier-General of Volunteers, U. S. Army. 

"B. P. Lamberton, 
"Captain, U. S. Navy. 

"Charles A. Whittier, 
"Lieutenant-Colonel and Inspector-General. 

"E. A. Crowder, 
"Lieutenant-Colonel and Judge- Advocate. 

"Nicholas de la Pena, 
"Auditor-General. 

"Carlos Reyes, 
"Coronel de Ingenieros. 

"Jose Maria Olaguea Felin, 
"Coronel de Estado-Mayor." 

The last paragraph will be recognized by every student 
of military history as identical, except for the substitution of 
the word "city" for the words "splendid capital," with para- 
graph seventeen of the articles of General Scott's famous 
order issued in the City of Mexico on September 17, 1847. 

By the terms of this agreement were surrendered between 
thirteen and fourteen thousand prisoners; twenty-three 
thousand rifles; ten million rounds of small-arms ammuni- 
tion; two hundred and thirteen pieces of artillery, ancient 
and modern; immense quantities of powder and projectiles; 
public funds in the treasury, the mint and the public offices, 
amounting to over a million dollars. The losses among the 

171 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

American troops engaged in the investment and capture of 
the town had been twenty killed and one hundred and five 
wounded ; very few had succumbed to disease. 

I succeeded in getting out to the Zafiro with my de- 
spatches on a captured tugboat, finishing my work as we 
bobbed up and down on the rough waters of the bay. To my 
surprise I found Mr. Reid on board starting for Hong Kong, 
having sent the Albany to Cavite to await my orders, and it 
was a relief to know at last that the news he carried was 
sure to reach its destination. 

The first few days of the occupation were so full of inter- 
esting and noteworthy incidents that, in the perspective of 
time, they are remembered only as an uninterrupted period of 
activity and anxious endeavor to keep touch with every 
operation. On Sunday afternoon General Merritt and staff 
moved up to the palace of Malicahang, in the district of San 
Miguel, the late residence of the Spanish governor-general, a 
large but inconveniently arranged and uncomfortable edifice 
on the bank of the Pasig, surrounded by extensive and ill- 
kept grounds, and flanked by a large brewery on one 
side, and by temptingly pleasant private villas on the other. 
The general is constitutionally averse to any display, 
and the very name of palace was repugnant to his simple 
tastes, but it was undoubtedly advisable, as far as could be 
reasonably done, to keep up some of the glamour of the posi- 
tion in order to avoid shocking the sensibilities of a com- 
munity which had for so long a period been accustomed to 
associate intimately high rank with ostentatious show. A 
bed had been offered me in one of the many rooms of the 
Ayuntamiento, and I concluded to sleep there for the present, 
as it was near the centre of operations, and to trust to luck 
for my subsistence. As it happened, luck was a little coy and 
shy, and the feast on Saturday evening was the last square 
meal which came in my way for several days. 

On Monday some of the shops of the better class in the 

T72 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

popular business street, the Escolta, took down their shut- 
ters, the Manila Club at Malate, which although well within 
range of our projectiles at Maytubig, had only shut its doors 
for a few hours during the evacuation of the quarter by the 
Spaniards, began to attract our officers with its freely pro- 
fessed hospitality, and the English and American residents 
gathered here to fraternize with the welcome visitors. On 
the following day the horse cars made spasmodic trips, sev- 
eral newspapers were published and on Wednesday the 
banks, temporarily guarded by our troops, resumed business. 
As soon as possible after the surrender, General Merritt 
issued the following proclamation, which was printed in 
English, Spanish and Tagalo, and distributed all over the 
city and the suburbs : 

"Headquarters Department of the Pacific, 

"August 14, 1898. 
"To the People of the Philippines : 

"1. War has existed between the United States and Spain 
since April 21st of this year. Since that date you have wit- 
nessed the destruction, by an American fleet, of the Spanish 
naval power in these islands, the fall of the principal city, 
Manila, and its defences, and the surrender of the Spanish 
army of occupation to the forces of the United States. 

"2. The commander of the United States forces now in 
possession has instructions from his government to assure 
the people that he has not come to wage war upon them, nor 
upon any party or faction among them, but to protect them 
in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal 
and religious rights. All persons who by active aid or 
honest submission co-operate with the United States in its 
efforts to give effect to this beneficent purpose will receive 
the reward of its support and protection. 

"3. The government established among you by the United 
States army is a government of military occupation ; and for 
the present it is ordered that the municipal laws, such as 
affect private rights of persons and property, regulate local 
institutions, and provide for the punishment of crime, shall 
be considered as continuing in force, so far as compatible 

*73 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

with the purposes of military government, and that they be 
administered through the ordinary tribunals substantially as 
before occupation, but by officials appointed by the govern- 
ment of occupation. 

"4. A provost marshal-general will be appointed for the 
city of Manila and its outlying districts. This territory will 
be divided into sub-districts, and there will be assigned to 
each a deputy provost-marshal. 

"The duties of the provost marshal-general and his depu- 
ties will be set forth in detail in future orders. In a general 
way they are charged with the duty of making arrests of 
military as well as civil offenders, sending such of the former 
class as are triable by court-martial to their proper commands 
with statements of their offences and names of witnesses, and 
detaining in custody all other offenders for trial by military 
commission, provost courts, or native criminal courts, in ac- 
cordance with law and the instructions hereafter to be issued. 

"5. The port of Manila, and all other ports and places in 
the Philippines which may be in the actual possession of our 
land and naval forces, will be open, while our military occu- 
pation may continue, to the commerce of all neutral nations, 
as well as our own, in articles not contraband of war, and 
upon payment of the prescribed rates of duty which may be 
in force at the time of the importation. 

"6. All churches and places devoted to religious worship 
and to the arts and sciences, all educational institutions, li- 
braries, scientific collections, museums, are, so far as possi- 
ble, to be protected ; and all destruction or intentional de- 
facement of such places or property, of historical monuments, 
archives, or works of science is prohibited, save when re- 
quired by urgent military necessity. Severe punishment will 
be meted out for all violations of this regulation. 

"The custodians of all properties of the character men- 
tioned in this section will make prompt returns thereof to 
these headquarters, stating character and location, and em- 
bodying such recommendations as they may think proper for 
the full protection of the properties under their care and cus- 
tody, that proper orders may issue enjoining the co-operation 
of both military and civil authorities in securing such protec- 
tion. 

"7. The commanding general, in announcing the estab- 
lishment of military government and in entering upon his 

i74 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

duties as military governor, in pursuance of his appointment 
as such by the government of the United States, desires to 
assure the people that so long as they preserve the peace and 
perform their duties towards the representatives of the 
United States, they will not be disturbed in their persons 
and property, except in so far as may be found necessary 
for the good of the service of the United States and the 
benefit of the people of the Philippines. 

"Wesley Merritt, 
"Major-General U. S, Army, Commanding." 

In this connection it may be as well to quote the congratu- 
latory order of General Merritt and a telegram from Presi- 
dent McKinley. 

"Headquarters Department of the Pacific and Eighth 
Army Corps, Manila, P. I., 

"August 17, 1898. 
"General Orders No. 6. 

"The major-general commanding desires to congratulate 
the troops of this command upon their brilliant success in 
the capture, by assault, of the defences of Manila on Satur- 
day, August 13, a date hereafter to be memorable in the his- 
tory of American victories. 

"After a journey of seven thousand miles by sea, the sol- 
diers of the Philippine expedition encountered most serious 
difficulties in landing, due to protracted storms raising high 
surf through which it was necessary to pass the small boats 
which afforded the only means of disembarking the army 
and its supplies. This great task and the privations and 
hardships of a campaign during the rainy season in tropical 
lowlands, were accomplished and endured by all the troops 
in a spirit of soldierly fortitude, which has at all times during 
these days of trial given the commanding general the most 
heartfelt pride and confidence in his men. Nothing could be 
finer than the patient, uncomplaining devotion to duty which 
all have shown. 

"Now, it is his pleasure to announce that, within three 
weeks after the arrival in the Philippines of the greater por- 
tion of the forces, the capital city of the Spanish provinces 
in the East, held by Spanish veterans, has fallen into our 

175 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

hands, and he feels assured that all officers and men of this 
command have reason to be proud of the success of the ex- 
pedition. 

"The commanding general will hereafter take occasion to 
mention to the home government the names of officers, men, 
and organizations to whom special credit is due. 

"By command of Major-General Merritt, 
"J. B. Babcock, 



'Official. 

"Bentley Mott, 

"Aid." 



r A djutant-General. 



The telegram referred to above was as follows : 

"Washington, D. C, August 22, 1898. 
"Major-General Merritt, U. S. A., Manila, via Hong-Kong: 
"In my own behalf and for the nation, I extend to yourself 
and to the officers and men of your command sincere thanks 
and congratulations for the conspicuously gallant conduct 
displayed in your campaign. 

"William McKinley." 

In his official report to the government at Washington, re- 
ferring to the capture and the orderly occupation of the town, 
General Merritt says it was "an act which only the law-abid- 
ing, temperate, resolute American soldier, well and skilfully 
handled by his regimental and brigade commanders, could 
accomplish." 

General Merritt's first act of administration was to appoint 
General MacArthur provost-marshal and military governor 
of the walled town, and a day or two later he turned over the 
administration of the finances to General Greene, who was to 
perform the duties of the officer known as Intendente-Gen- 
eral de Hacienda, appointed Major C. H. Whipple to take 
charge of the public funds, and Lieutenant-Colonel Whittier 
to be collector of customs, with Lieutenant-Colonel Colton 
as deputy. Then the other important offices were rilled as the 
necessities of the situation demanded, Major Bement taking 

176 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the position of collector of internal revenue, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Jewett that of provost judge, and the duties of cap- 
tain of the port were entrusted to Captain Glass, of the navy. 
Practically within a few hours after the signing of the terms 
of capitulation, the new machinery of administration was set 
in motion. The men appointed to office were all eminently 
fitted for their different positions, and were familiar with 
operations similar to those which they were to undertake. 
Hence there was little or no delay in dealing with the com- 
plicated and intricate problems which arose in the extraor- 
dinary situation, except that caused by the Spaniards them- 
selves, who stubbornly refused to give up their offices, re- 
sorting to the most childish and undignified tricks to obstruct 
and hinder the newly appointed officers in the performance 
of their duties. Their attitude was partly due to their 
belief that we, in granting such liberal terms of surrender, 
were only half-hearted in this enterprise and also to the 
knowledge gained from a telegram which arrived on the 
16th, that a protocol had been signed at Washington, some 
hours before the surrender of Manila. By the terms of the 
protocol the settlement of the Philippine question had been 
left to a joint commission to be appointed in the future, and 
meanwhile hostilities were to be suspended, the United States 
forces were to occupy the bay and the town of Manila, with 
its suburbs, and the status quo was to exist until the final 
disposition of the archipelago was settled upon by the com- 
mission. In Spanish logic this meant that the Spanish gov- 
ernor-general still remained in authority, as well as all those 
officials whose functions were in any way related to the ad- 
ministration of the colony. Therefore they argued that only 
those officials whose duties were purely local could be re- 
moved from office; further, that all funds controlled by the 
Spanish governor-general, outside those in the municipal 
treasury, were not to be given up to the United States au- 
thorities until after the decision of the joint commission. 

12 177 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ooo, of which about one-third part was promised to be repaid 
on August 15th. Relying on the truth of this statement the 
bank advanced its claim for the recovery of the money found 
in the treasury. Of course the claim could not be allowed. 
The case of the bank, however bad it appeared, was not 
worse than that of thousands of private individuals who had 
loaned money to the government on promise of liberal inter- 
est, and instead of cash had been obliged to accept bonds 
which were in turn supposed to bear interest, which never 
materialized. 

Besides the claims of the bank and of various individuals, 
which were based on some reasonable grounds, there were 
thousands of others of a most ridiculously innocent nature, 
which were brought forward with annoying persistence. 
Employees in public offices who had been absent for months 
in the ranks of the insurgents, applied for back pay due them, 
various officials in high standing expected the United States 
to continue their salaries, which they asserted, and probably 
with truth, to be their only means of support. A certain 
colonel who had bought up a great many tickets in the May 
lottery which was never drawn, insisted with obnoxious per- 
tinacity that the United States government must refund him 
the money. In most of the offices it was found that the num- 
ber of employees was far greater than was necessary, but 
that the salaries were very small, the recognized custom be- 
ing for every man to "squeeze" all he could out of the public 
and in this way add considerably to his stipend. This was 
particularly true in the custom-house, where the system of 
bribery has long been notorious. The resistance to the oc- 
cupancy of the municipal and other offices continued spas- 
modically for a long time, and a month after the capture of 
the town two safes in the provost-marshal's office were still 
without keys. The Spaniards delayed and prevaricated and 
in the end stoutly asserted that each safe required three keys 
to open it, and that one of the parties holding a key was in 

i'/9 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Paris, and besides there was nothing but private papers in 
the safes, anyhow. General Hughes, who had taken the 
office over from General MacArthur, finally lost patience and 
threatened to blow open the locks, whereupon the keys were 
produced and the safes were opened. Several thousand dol- 
lars in coin were found inside. The honorable and high- 
minded gentlemen had been sparring for time. 

It is a curious sequel to all these troubles that, by the de- 
cision of the Paris Commission, all the public funds captured 
at Manila, together with an immense amount of material 
which, according to all precedent belonged to the United 
States, were returned to the Spanish government. 



CHAPTER XIII 

Although we were masters of the town by right of con- 
quest, there was the feeling in the air that we were only 
there on sufferance. For weeks the Spanish officers in gor- 
geous uniforms with revolver and dangling sword paraded 
with an irritating assumption of superiority which recalled 
the strut of the Prussian officer in the streets of Berlin. 
They captured all the best carriages, often to the discomfiture 
and inconvenience of our own officers, and generally con- 
tinued to act the part of masters over the natives who, having 
no assurance that the domination would not continue, were 
afraid to deny them the homage which they had always been 
forced to pay. It occurred to me more than once during 
the first week, to be refused a meal in a restaurant on the plea 
of dearth of supplies, while the Spanish officers would be 
served with an abundance of food. On one occasion a col- 
onel went so far as to stop a carromato in which another cor- 
respondent and myself were riding and, because we were 
not in uniform, attempted, to his ultimate discomfiture, to 
drag us forcibly from our seats. This attitude of the Span- 
iards, as might be expected, had a bad effect on the native 
population, who naturally attributed our endurance of this 
false position to fear rather than to commendable forbear- 
ance, and they began to comport themselves accordingly. 

The insurgents, meanwhile, exasperated at their failure to 
participate in the occupation of the town proper, busied them- 
selves at once in turning the Spanish earthworks into offens- 
ive positions, dug many new trenches and made active prepa- 
rations for renewing the siege of the town, always with the 
excuse that when the United States troops evacuated Manila 

181 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

they might be ready to complete their conquest of the hated 
race. At Tondo, the northwesterly district of the town, they 
established their line within revolver shot of our barracks, 
and in many quarters of the town there was constantly re- 
curring dispute as to which force had the right to occupy 
certain streets. They took possession of all the blockhouses 
from Number One to Number Fourteen, held the filtering 
reservoirs and the pumping station of the water-works, the 
villages of Santa Ana, Paco and Singalong, our earthworks 
at Maytubig and all the territory between the Paco road and 
the street parallel with the Camino Real in Malate and Er- 
mita, including the Observatory and the exhibition build- 
ings, and even pushed forward to the water front at Malate 
square, cutting through our own area of occupation in such 
a way that the men relieving guard at the stone fort were 
obliged to pass two lines of insurgent sentinels. They there- 
fore controlled at will the approach to the cable station, 
greatly interfering with the business of the office for the rea- 
son that after one or two Spaniards had been run off by the 
natives, including a baker, horse, cart and load of bread, no 
one who could be recognized as a Spaniard dared venture 
through the cordon of native guards. The employees of the 
cable company who lived at the cable station, found no little 
difficulty in procuring supplies, and those of us who had to 
make our way there, often in the darkness and rain, were 
not a little hindered at times by the raw Malays on guard. 

One of the first orders issued was against the bearing of 
arms by the natives within our lines, and this regulation was 
strictly carried out, every one being obliged to surrender his 
arms before he could pass our sentries. On one occasion a 
body of over two hundred insurgents attempted to pass the 
lines of the Colorado regiment, but Colonel Hale surrounded 
them with a superior force and, much to their chagrin, took 
their rifles from them. The insurgent officers were very 
much irritated by this regulation, and asserted that they had 

182 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

quite as much right to carry arms in the town as the Spanish 
officers had. This complaint was not considered, but it was 
soon found necessary, all the same, to issue an order for- 
bidding the prisoners of war to carry side arms. 

The walled town now had about fifteen thousand added to 
its normal population, and was pretty well crowded. It was 
found that during the siege there had been no attempt at re- 
moving the garbage, and in most houses large piles of fetid 
refuse were poisoning the air. Speedy measures were taken 
to suppress these nuisances, and earnest efforts were made to 
induce the prisoners to police their quarters properly, and to 
observe the common decencies of life, but with little effect un- 
til rigorous orders were issued to this end. The prisoners, 
who were provided with an abundance of good food and were 
well sheltered in the churches and other large buildings, had 
full liberty to wander pretty much wherever they liked, and 
were met with all over the town, but never, it was observed, 
anywhere near the insurgent guards. They congregated all 
day long on the seashore and along the Paseo between the 
walls of the town and the beach, and were as happy there as 
so many picnic parties. A painful little incident, illustrative 
of the bitter feeling between the races occurred on the beach 
a few days after the surrender. I was riding on the Paseo 
with a friend, when we saw a sudden commotion among the 
prisoners and heard a stifled yell. One or two of our men 
who happened to be not far off, pushed into the crowd, and 
soon came out with one of the Spanish prisoners whom they 
dragged off into the town. An insurgent officer had vent- 
ured to stroll in among the prisoners and had been attacked 
by them and pounded and kicked to death. A week or two 
later I happened to think of the incident and went to look up 
the prisoner. He had not been tried, nor had it been proved 
that he was the guilty party, although he looked villainous 
enough to commit any atrocity. He had been literally 
thrown into one of the mediaeval dungeon pits of the Maes- 

183 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

tranza or Armory, and there I found him crouching on the 
three-foot barred entrance to the pit, holding his head with 
both hands and groaning piteously. A day or two later his 
miserable plight came to the attention of some one in au- 
thority, and he was allowed the freedom of a small area of 
the courtyard during the day. This was the only instance 
which came under my observation in which the treatment of 
any prisoners of war was not characterized by the greatest 
kindness and consideration. The insurgents, however, con- 
tinued their starvation methods as I shall presently describe. 

Simultaneously with the establishment of strong detach- 
ments of his troops in the suburbs of Manila, Aguinaldo 
began to make extraordinary demands in terms none too po- 
lite, basing these claims on the efficiency of his assistance in 
the capture of the town, and making use of his occupation of 
the waterworks as an argument why he had equal rights 
with the American commander-in-chief. In one of these 
remarkable communications sent to General Merritt three or 
four days after the surrender, he made the following specific 
and pretentious claims : 

The insurgent forces to continue to hold the waterworks, 
and to occupy Cavite. 

The insurgents, without regard to rank, to be given free 
access to Manila, and the Spaniards prohibited from leaving 
the town. 

All arms taken from the insurgents to be returned to them. 

The river Pasig to be opened to the free use of the insur- 
gent vessels. 

A proper division to be made of the Spanish property sur- 
rendered to the United States army. 

The palace of Malicafiang and the archbishop's palaces in 
Malate to be turned over to him for his own use. 

General Merritt of course refused to allow any of these 
claims, but continued to temporize, acting presumably under 
orders from Washington which were understood to be al- 

184 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ways most explicit on one point, namely: to avoid rupture 
with the insurgents at almost any cost. He was therefore 
much in the position of his own men, whom he had ordered 
on the day of the capture of the town to prevent the insur- 
gents from advancing, but to use no force to stop them. 

The question of the water supply was a very important 
one, not so much so during the rainy season, when plenty of 
fairly pure water could be caught from the corrugated iron 
roofs with which the houses of the town are usually covered, 
but because the rain would soon cease and there would be a 
genuine water famine. Further it was known that before 
the establishment of the system of water supply, which, by 
the way, was a gift to the municipality by a wealthy and pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, the health of the town was constantly 
threatened, and cholera, typhoid fever and kindred diseases 
flourished to an alarming extent. It was of the first neces- 
sity, then, to deal with this matter promptly, and conse- 
quently, on Tuesday the 16th, a detachment of two compa- 
nies of the Colorado regiment was ordered to proceed to the 
pumping station, which is situated about six miles out of 
town on the San Mateo river, a large branch of the Pasig. 
Delay in the arrival of supplies for the men obliged the ex- 
pedition to be postponed until the following morning, when 
it started under command of Major Bement, a well-known 
and expert hydraulic engineer. Proceeding without opposi- 
tion past the settlement of Santa Mesa, and over the San 
Juan river, they arrived near the filtering reservoirs on San 
Juan hill, when their passage along the road was disputed by 
a force of insurgents, who refused to let them pass without 
written authority from Aguinaldo. In this quandary none 
of the officers knew quite what was to be done, for it was 
understood that they must not have an open rupture with the 
natives, and yet they were ordered to take possession of the 
pumping station. While they were discussing the situation, 

185 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

an aid galloped up with an order from headquarters for the 
expedition to return to town. 

Exaggerated reports of this incident spread rapidly 
through the insurgent camps, and crystallized the impression, 
which had been diligently and ingeniously cultivated by the 
circulation of ridiculous stories, that the American troops 
were cowards, and were more afraid of the natives than the 
Spaniards were. Negotiations between General Merritt and 
Aguinaldo were continued in spite of this incident, and 
finally, on the 23d, ten days after the surrender, the water 
began to run. It is quite possible that the wily leader of the 
insurgents found it quite to his own advantage to make this 
concession, because thousands of his men were quartered 
within the town limits. The pumps were run at the expense 
of the United States authorities, who appointed Captain Con- 
nor of the Engineers to take charge of the system. 

Perhaps the next question of vital importance was the 
telegraphic communication with Washington, and this could 
only be accomplished by repairing the cut cable and having 
the seals removed which had been put on the Hong-Kong 
end by the Spanish consul there. To do this it was neces- 
sary to secure the authorization of the Spanish officials in 
Manila, and, through the intercession of M. Andre, the Bel- 
gian consul, these high personages at last consented to write 
an order in compliance with a general desire, not only of the 
military authorities, but of the leading business men, and, 
after the usual period of procrastination, the order was 
signed late on Friday afternoon. In anticipation of this au- 
thorization, the steamer China, the fastest of the fleet of 
transports, was ordered to be in readiness to sail at a mo- 
ment's notice. At the same time it was important to splice 
the cable as soon as possible so no time should be lost. 

Water transportation was very scarce at that period, and I 
turned the Albany over to Major Thompson of the Signal 
Corps, who with his famous expert operator Kelly, and two 

186 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

or three of the employees of the telegraph company, was to 
go out and repair the break. I stipulated only that I should 
be taken to the China on the way, so I could arrange for the 
delivery of a large package of letters and despatches at Hong 
Kong. Running alongside the China we learned that the 
sailing orders had been countermanded, and that the mails 
had been transferred to the Oxus, a much smaller and slower 
boat. Thither we steamed and I deposited my precious bun- 
dle of news and, as it was then too late to be set on shore, was 
obliged to take part in the expedition myself. I may remark, 
in passing, that this particular mail somehow got transferred 
into a gun smuggling vessel, and disappeared entirely, and 
the China did, after all, sail for Hong-Kong that same even- 
ing. Thus in spite of every precaution communication with 
the outside world seemed to be the football of fate. 

Having secured from the admiral an order to use the side- 
wheeler Kwonghoi to grapple for the cable, we were out in 
the channel off Cavite before sunset, cruising about to find 
the buoys which marked the cable ends. We picked up one 
without much difficulty, as the captain of the Kwonghoi had 
the ranges, but the other had disappeared, having been, as we 
afterwards found out by the cut rope, stolen by the natives. 
Leaving the Albany moored at the buoy as a marker in the 
dark, we began the slow process of dragging a grappling 
hook backwards and forwards for an hour or more, without 
success. Finally the line became rigid, and on hauling it up, 
we found a steel rope about an inch in diameter, joining the 
ends of the cable which were separated two or three hundred 
yards. There were no proper appliances on board for under- 
running this rope, so it had to be hauled in with great labor 
by the use of a watch-tackle, the tail of which was refastened 
every few feet by natives in a small boat, who worked with 
admirable courage and skill in the heavy sea which was 
breaking against the steamer's counter. This toilsome and 
monotonous operation continued an hour or more, and at last 

187 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the end of a great, slimy green rope almost as large as a 
claret bottle, came on board and was promptly made fast. 
On scraping away the mud and sea growth, five copper cores 
were disclosed, one of which was selected for splicing, and its 
insulating envelope removed. The copper, carefully fixed 
in a special vice, was filed to an accurate wedge point. An 
insulated copper wire of the same dimensions was treated in 
a similar manner and the two bevelled and brightly polished 
surfaces were skilfully soldered together, and a free wire 
fastened so as to make a connection beyond the splice. The 
whole was then covered with melted gutta percha, and care- 
fully smoothed and caressed with warm irons until the joint 
was scarcely distinguishable. The small insulated wire was 
then lashed to the steel rope, which we began to overhaul in 
the same toilsome way, and after much tossing and hard 
work hauled inboard the shore end of the break. After tests 
of this part as well as six hundred mile length to Hong- 
Kong, which, however, had no result which I could observe, 
a similar splice was made and the cable dropped overboard 
again. By the dim light of a flickering lantern, in a tumbling 
and angry sea, and with only the rudest appliances, the deli- 
cate operation of splicing and insulating had been done with 
perfect success. The seals at Hong-Kong were removed on 
the 2 ist, the insulation of the cable was perfect, and for the 
first time in sixteen weeks Manila was in direct communica- 
tion with the rest of the world. 

Our task was not finished until long after midnight, and 
when Major Thompson and I wearily strolled back to the 
Ayuntamiento about three o'clock in the morning and re- 
membered that, although we had taken nothing but a cup of 
coffee at daybreak, we had nothing to expect from the bare 
cupboards of the stately building, we were almost ready to 
envy the prisoners sleeping peacefully after a good supper, 
just inside the broad portals of the great cathedral. 

By the end of the first week of the occupation, everybody 

188 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

began to feel more or less at home in the town, and the offi- 
cers began to look about for permanent quarters, and the 
pleasant villas in Malate and Ermita found tenants as soon as 
they were offered for lease. General Greene took possession 
of the late official residence of Admiral Montojo in San 
Miguel, on the Pasig, a short distance below the palace of 
Malicanang ; General MacArthur established his headquarters 
at Malate, and General Anderson returned to his original 
quarters at Cavite. After a week of ultra-bohemian existence 
in the Ayuntamiento, I was only too glad to accept an oft-re- 
peated invitation to join my shipmates from the Newport at 
the palace of Malicanang, and accordingly moved my scanty 
impedimenta up there and occupied the spacious and airy 
billiard room with Major Wadsworth. The billiard table was 
useless for the purpose for which it was constructed, for 
there were no balls to play with, but it made an excellent 
broad shelf to hold our spare clothing, and we used the few 
cues which remained unbroken to support the mosquito nets 
over our make-shift beds. 

The palace is a wonderfully ugly structure of two stories, 
and is said to have been erected in the last part of the 
seventeenth century. It is built of a variety of materials, 
around two tiny court-yards, each scarcely larger than an 
ordinary box stall. It is too confused in plan to be easily 
described, and is arranged with an irritating disregard of 
the first principles of comfort and convenience. The ground 
floor is given up to kitchen and larders, to cellars and store- 
rooms and to unwholesome and uninhabitable offices, and the 
salons, the reception rooms, the dining rooms and the sleep- 
ing apartments are all on the upper floor. A large veranda 
projects over the river and, under the platform of this, is 
moored the official steam launch. Most of the rooms have 
the usual open corridor or long balcony on the outside like 
the Japanese houses and these are fitted with shutters or slid- 
ing frames glazed with small squares of translucent concha 

189 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

shells which keep out the heat and the rain and admit a tem- 
pered, mellow light to the interior. A broad wooden stair- 
case leads straight from the front door into a large reception 
room to the right of the landing opposite the billiard room, 
with columns and many empty pedestals, a multitude of si- 
lent French clocks and furniture of the most uncomfortable 
and formal character. This room is, fortunately, not brill- 
iantly illuminated except at night for the decorations are 
crude to a tormenting degree and the portraits of former 
governors-general are constant reproaches to the skill of the 
artists who executed them. Beyond this is a large and well 
proportioned salon or state audience room with a full length 
portrait of the late King Alfonso XII. at one end and of 
Queen Maria Cristina and the prince at the other. The deco- 
ration of this room is, like the others, in the worst possible 
taste, although an attempt has been made by the free use of 
gold leaf and by florid hand painted ornament to give to the 
interior an appearance of sumptuous luxury and splendor. 
The glare of day and even the blaze of the electric light 
which has been installed with lavish freedom all over the pal- 
ace inside and out, reveals this to be as artificial as stage 
scenery and as crude as property room articles. The floors 
are the only parts of the interior which deserve commenda- 
tion and these are laid with enormous and highly polished 
planks of the beautifully rich and fine-grained narra wood 
(Pterocarpus Santalinus), closely resembling the best qual- 
ity of mahogany. The surrounding grounds which are en- 
closed by a stone parapet surmounted by a lofty iron fence 
contain, perhaps, twenty acres and were originally laid out 
with some care and taste. Near the palace there are traces of 
conventionally arranged flower beds with winding paths and 
a shabby fountain bearing marks of long neglect and disuse. 
At the main entrance are guardhouses and the halberdiers' 
quarters, near by the stables and coach houses and on the 
river below the palace the residence and offices of the secre- 

190 




WOMEN OF A CASCO WASHING CLOTHES IN THE BAY 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

tary with a separate garden and an entrance on the street. 
Various other buildings of more or less importance are scat- 
tered around the grounds, all more or less in a ruinous condi- 
tion. 

From the veranda, or loggia, there is a pleasant view em- 
bracing the river for a long distance and extending beyond 
the low elevation of Santa Mesa to the hill of San Juan, 
across the broad marshes on the south side of the Pasig 
where the tower of Santa Ana church rises above the trees 
and Blockhouse Ten makes a prominent landmark against 
the dark foliage beyond, and away to the south and west to- 
wards Paco and Ermita until it is interrupted by the ugly 
outlines of the brewery and ice-factory with its tall chim- 
ney. In the far distance, high volcanic peaks rising near the 
southern shores of the Laguna de Bay form a skyline of great 
beauty. The proximity of the brewery to the palace is often 
annoying because clouds of black smoke are blown by the 
prevailing wind directly across the building and render the 
loggia, which opens out of the dining room, quite untenable 
at the very hour of the day it is most agreeable to sit there. 
It was some time before we solved the mystery why this 
nuisance should have been permitted to exist, but the secret 
was out when it was discovered that the parties who ran the 
brewery had special concessions for the free importation of 
material, a certain immunity from taxation and were guar- 
anteed against competition. The inference was clear that 
some past governor-general or perhaps all the recent gov- 
ernors-general received a "consolation squeeze" out of the 
large profits of the establishment. 

In the rainy season, the current of the Pasig, which stream 
is about as wide as the Harlem river at High Bridge, is very 
strong and rapid and the surface is always covered with a 
water plant somewhat resembling a tiny cabbage, called the 
quiapo, which floats down from the Laguna and out into 
the harbor often covering that broad expanse of water with 

191 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

scattered masses of bright green extending in every direction 
as far as the eye can reach. This plant grows with extraor- 
dinary rapidity in all pools and along the shores of the lake 
and, detached by the wind or waves, is set adrift and after 
being wafted about for a time, is caught by the prevailing 
current and carried by the stream into the bay where it dis- 
appears after a few days. Early in the morning and after the 
heat of the day is passed, the river is busy with dugouts and 
cascos, and there is a constant and lively traffic to and from 
the market. The chief articles brought down the river are 
firewood, building stone, cocoa-nut oil in jars, forage, crasse, 
unglazed pottery, fruit and vegetables and cocoanuts, the 
latter piled high on bamboo rafts. Native passenger boats 
do a good business, up and down river, and it is a common 
spectacle to see a large dugout with a low awning shading 
a dozen or more natives, poled and paddled up against the 
current with extraordinary speed. Everywhere along the 
river on the banks and on all the native craft the men and 
women are always bathing and washing their clothes. The 
bath is usually taken in the Malay fashion by pouring water 
from a cup or dipper over the head and body, and it is no 
uncommon sight to see a laborer deliberately walk into the 
water, take off his garments one by one, wash them, put 
them on and walk away, a perambulating clothes-drier. The 
women, dressed in the thinnest cotton jacket and sarong, 
wade into the water up to their waists and beat the soiled 
garment with stones and clubs much the same as the peasants 
of European countries do. 

Neither of the so-called palaces of the officials is larger or 
more pretentious than many a suburban residence in the 
small towns of the United States and not half as comforta- 
ble withal. The dwellings of the religious dignitaries in the 
walled town, the archbishop's palace and many others, are 
stately and well appointed and far more luxurious than those 
of the military and civil officials, probably because the occu- 

192 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

pants have much longer terms of position, for it has always 
been the practice of the governors-general and the other 
high officials appointed by the Spanish government to man- 
age a recall as soon as they had got all they could hope to 
make out of the colony. In all these palaces and in the pub- 
lic buildings generally there are great numbers of modern 
works of art and many pretentious efforts of the young 
Spanish painters who have exhibited in the Paris Salon of 
recent years have found a refuge in this far-off capital. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Manila, according to the census of February, 1898, has 
a population of 400,238 of whom 41,998 are Chinese. It is 
generally called a city of suburbs because the name Manila 
is locally applied to that part of the town alone which is en- 
closed by the walls and moat. This elaborate and well pre- 
served fortification of the Vauban type constructed early last 
century, is not only most interesting as one of the most perfect 
examples of this famous system of defence which now exists, 
but is valuable as affording a safe and necessary protection for 
the most important offices of the government and for the 
security of public funds and military stores. In a country 
like the Philippines where the conquest has been incomplete 
and always so oppressive that racial antagonisms have never 
been greatly modified by civilization, a strong citadel like the 
walled town has not only been of the utmost importance as a 
stronghold but its traditional impregnability has served as a 
powerful deterrent to the natives in plotting the destruction 
of the town. Its usefulness is by no means over, for the 
moral effect of this monument to the supremacy of the domi- 
nant power of the European is now and will continue to be 
for a long time very powerful and salutary on the native 
mind. The broad moat around the wall need not, if properly 
flushed as it was planned to be, become a menace to the 
health of the town and, although from the first moment of 
the surrender there has been talk of razing the walls and 
filling up the ditch, it is to be hoped that such an expensive 
and unnecessary change will not be undertaken without 
proper deliberation and after ripe experience with the un- 
usual conditions prevailing in this mixed colony. The moat, 

194 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

which is over two miles in extent, is crossed by six bridges, 
and an equal number of gates give entrance to the city, each 
of them approached through covered ways and strongly pro- 
tected by characteristically ingenious defences on all sides. 
The gates are monumental in style and bear the Spanish 
coats-of-arms and other symbols in stone carved above the 
portal. Besides massive doors of mediaeval aspect each gate 
has a drawbridge still in use. The general shape of the 
walled town is that of a semi-circle or half an irregular poly- 
gon with the diameter parallel to the shore of the bay from 
which the moat is separated by a broad and pleasant drive- 
way called the Paseo de Maria Cristina, extending from the 
river southward to the Luneta. The walls are faced with cut 
stone, probably obtained at the great quarries on the Pasig 
and, though weathered and moss-covered in places, are in 
excellent repair. The part overlooking the river at the north 
end of the town is the oldest construction and, although it 
has been several times altered and improved, much of the 
masonry built by Perez Gomez at the end of the sixteenth 
century is still intact. In the enormous thickness of the walls 
at this point are many underground passages and dungeons 
and pits suggestive of mediaeval methods of disposing of 
offenders. The dungeons are on the primitive and simple 
plan of an underground room about twenty feet square and 
fifteen high without any opening except at the top where 
there is a trap door at the end of a ladder or a tiny barred 
door approached from below by a narrow stone stairway or 
a slippery incline. The entrance admits all the light and air 
which find their way into the gloomy and damp interior and 
this opening is generally only just large enough to admit a 
man's body. It was in one of these dungeon pits that seventy- 
five or a hundred revolting Filipinos were confined two years 
ago. As it was a very rainy night the sentinel thoughtfully 
shut the trap door to keep the prisoners from getting wet. 



195 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

He saved them from a drenching but a good many died from 
suffocation. 

In this part of the fortification is the Maestranza, or Ar- 
mory which is a very extensive establishment, containing, 
besides the enormous storehouses and shops, many pleasant 
quarters for the officers. All along the ramparts, particularly 
near the bay and the river, are quantities of bronze cannon 
and mortars of antiquated pattern, among them many inter- 
esting specimens of elaborate workmanship worthy of a place 
in a museum. The only open space of notable dimensions 
within the walls besides the enclosure of the arsenal grounds 
is the Plaza de Palacio about one hundred yards square on 
the eastern side of which stands the Ayuntamiento. The 
huge cathedral with its spacious platform occupies the south- 
ern side and is an edifice more remarkable for dimensions 
than for beauty. It was begun in 1578 and, having been sev- 
eral times partly destroyed by earthquakes, has been rebuilt 
over and over again until little of the original structure is 
visible. After the great shock of 1880 the tower had to be 
pulled down, an operation which was necessary for safety 
but which ruined the aspect of the building as an imposing 
mass. There are only twenty-one streets in the town exclu- 
sive of those which run along under the walls, and they cross 
each other at right angles dividing the area into blocks of 
various sizes but generally about three by five hundred feet. 
The buildings which are of the Spanish type with balconies, 
barred windows and pleasant courtyards, are usually two 
stories in height and have glass windows in place of the 
concha shell in common use elsewhere. The streets have 
very little variety of aspect and are quite as monotonous in 
their way as the brown-stone side streets of New York city. 
A large third of the area enclosed by the walls is occupied 
by religious institutions and perhaps a quarter of the re- 
mainder is devoted to the purposes of the civil and the mili- 
tary governments. 

196 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The Jesuit fathers conduct a large university called the 
Real y Pontificia Universidad de Santo Tomas, founded in 
1616, with a branch at the observatory, which useful institu- 
tion is entirely under their charge and is one of the best in 
the world. The students of the university are mostly natives 
or mestizos, and the training they receive compares well with 
that of any European educational institution. The natives 
have a particular fondness for the study of law and many 
of them practise this profession with great success. 

The Jesuit church near the water front in the walled town 
is a modern edifice simple to a fault on the exterior but with 
most elaborately craved nana wood ceilings and wainscot- 
ing and pulpit all of native workmanship and of remarkable 
perfection of execution. There are no hotels inside the walls, 
a few restaurants and only a small proportion of shops, print- 
ing offices and manufactories. The walled town has there- 
fore the air of a quiet, dignified official and residential dis- 
trict, entirely different from any other quarter and, indeed, 
resembling in no way any other city in the East. 

South of the citadel extends for nearly two miles along the 
shore the narrow suburbs of Ermita and Malate, a district 
of pleasant villas and gardens which has the advantage of 
the cool breezes from the bay. 

The territory north of the Pasig, which river is crossed by 
three bridges, is cut up into numerous small islands by wind- 
ing and muddy estuaries and, although the different areas 
are laid out in blocks as far as practicable, the irregular shape 
of the islands and the multitude of bridges make this por- 
tion of the town seem confused in plan and casual in ar- 
rangement. From west to east the quarters of Binondo, 
Santa Cruz, Quiapo and San Miguel follow the river bank 
and back of these in the same order are the districts of 
Tondo, Trozo, Dulumbayan, San Sebastian, Tanduay and 
Sampaloe. Of these different quarters or wards, Binondo is 
the largest, and is the active centre of the business interests, 

197 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

with the custom house, the harbormaster's office, several of 
the consulates, the internal revenue office, the banks, the 
leading commercial houses, the best shops and the hotels and 
restaurants. The vessels all discharge their cargoes on the 
water front of this district and there are several streets — the 
Escolta, the Rosario, the Anloague and others which are 
lined with shops and offices and are as busy, particularly the 
first two named, as similar thoroughfares in any small Euro- 
pean capital. 

Binondo is connected with the walled town by a ferry of 
native boats and by a wide and solidly constructed bridge 
called the Puente de Espafia, which at all times is alive with 
passers and crowded with vehicles. San Miguel is the fash- 
ionable residential quarter and occupies a narrow strip of 
land between a sinuous estuary and the river, directly oppo- 
site the island of Convalescencia where an iron bridge, or 
rather two bridges meeting at the lower end of the island, 
called the Puentes de Ayala cross the stream and make the 
principal connection between the eastern part of the town 
north of the Pasig and the villages and suburbs to the south. 
The island, as its name implies, is devoted to hospital pur- 
poses and there are spacious buildings there under the ad- 
ministration of the religious orders. 

The business quarters of Binondo, Santa Cruz and Quiapo 
are very much like those of any Spanish provincial town and, 
but for traces of native architecture and particularly the con- 
cha shell windows, one might well imagine he was in Mexico 
or in Cuba. In San Miguel the streets are broader, Belgian 
pavement gives way to macadam and large shade trees line 
the avenues and fill the pleasant gardens. A great deal of 
stone is used in the construction, particularly of the lower 
stories of the houses and the garden walls and stucco is 
freely employed to give a surface of imitation marble to piers 
and archways. Green mold of vividly noxious color covers 
everything in the way of masonry and suggests an unpleas- 

198 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ant and unhealthy condition of dampness, the effect of which 
is, however, in some degree avoided by the habit of living en- 
tirely in the upper story of the houses. The character of the 
architecture is modified somewhat by the attempt to minimize 
the destructive effects of the frequent earthquakes, but in 
the commercial districts there are many stone and brick 
buildings which do not seem to have been restricted in height 
by anticipations of damage from this cause, and, indeed, it 
is said that these solidly built houses resist the shocks of 
earthquakes better than those constructed of wood. One of 
the ugliest features of the town is the roofs which are com- 
monly made of unpainted corrugated iron. 

The system of horsecars consists of four lines: The In- 
tramural, one thousand metres long ; the Malate, three kilo- 
metres ; the Sampaloe, two kilometres, eight hundred metres, 
and the Tondo, two kilometres, four hundred metres. The 
routes are divided into sections of one kilometre each and 
the passenger pays so much per section, the fares being regu- 
lated according to the place occupied in the car. Those who 
stand on the platform pay only half price. The vehicles are 
of American build, are very light and are drawn by small 
horses or mules. They are always crowded to overflowing 
for the natives are averse to walking if they can possibly ride 
and, moreover, they are of a restless disposition and fond 
of wandering about. A steam tramway connects Manila 
with Malabon, the distance of seven kilometres. 

Running through the above mentioned districts at some 
distance back from the river is a line of wide boulevards 
reaching from the bay to Sampaloe where several streets 
meet at a concourse or circular plaza called the Rotondo. 
Along these boulevards are the stations of the Manila-Dagu- 
pan railway, the large central market, several tobacco fac- 
tories, a theatre, and the great prison called the Carcel de 
Bilibid. These boulevards are not what the name suggests, 
attractive promenades, but are arid wastes of ill-kept roadway 

199 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

bordered with houses of every variety, from the hut of the 
native and the hovel of the Chinaman to the villa of the pros- 
perous European. In some places a central strip of ragged 
turf with a stone curb occupies the middle of the broad thor- 
oughfare, and here and there a few stunted and miserable 
trees and an occasional bench give a sad imitation of a conti- 
nental boulevard. Fringing all the European and the com- 
mercial quarters are thousands upon thousands of native huts 
crowding into every available space, no matter how swampy, 
and, seen from the height of some tower or tall building, look 
like masses of brown fungus spreading out from the green 
paddy fields and the dense thickets which surround the town, 
creeping up near to the very heart of the busy centre of 
commercial activity. These native huts are, as I have before 
described, always built on stilts and in some of the suburbs 
the ground around them is often flooded during the rainy 
season for weeks at a time. In certain parts of the outside 
districts there is nothing else seen but these huts crowded 
together as closely as they can stick and as populous as so 
many anthills. When a fire starts in one of these native 
quarters it rages without opposition, spreading rapidly 
until it is stopped by some wide street or open space. 
Thousands of houses are thus burned up in a few hours. 
There was a fire of this sort on the day the third expedition 
arrived, the 31st of July, and from the smoke which arose 
we thought the whole district of Binondo was in flames. The 
burned territory was half built over again a month later, and 
there were very few traces of the fire to be seen. For service 
at all fires and particularly those in the European quarters 
there is a very efficient volunteer fire brigade under control 
of the English and Scotch residents, but this is seldom able to 
cope with a conflagration among the nipa huts. The most 
conspicuous of the native buildings are the cockfighting thea- 
tres, which are sometimes of extraordinary dimensions. One 
of the largest stands near the river bank a short distance 

200 



a ° 

5 * 



.. 




EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

above the palace of Malicanang, and is an ingeniously con- 
structed shelter of bamboo and nipa with an enormous roof 
which is a landmark for miles around. 

There are three theatres in Manila, each of them more 
shabby and uncomfortable than the other, and a goodly num- 
ber of open air cafes and waterside restaurants. There is a 
general air of neglect about all these places and not one of 
them makes a tempting display of comfort or of cleanliness. 
Compared with any other colonial town in the East, Manila, 
with the exception of the walled town, is conspicuously un- 
interesting in aspect and indescribably ill kept and squalid. 
In Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Batavia and Rangoon 
the traveller is surprised at the evidences of luxury and pros- 
perity and solid comfort, while Manila, except in the resi- 
dences of some of the Englishmen and Scotchmen on the 
Pasig at San Miguel or Santa Ana, is depressingly neglected 
and shabby and worn out in appearance. There are signs of 
projected improvements here and there. Half-finished docks 
of vast extent behind the breakwater at the mouth of the 
Pasig show that a scheme for the extension of harbor fa- 
cilities has been started with more or less energy. On the 
east side of the Plaza de Palacio opposite the Ayuntamiento 
there are the foundations of a huge public building com- 
pleted to the height of a man's head and there are several 
half-finished little squares and parks which need only a lit- 
tle care to make them very attractive. There are several 
statues of indifferent merit, one of Anda near the river bank 
at the end of the Paseo de Maria Cristina, one of Charles IV., 
in the Plaza de Palacio not half as monumental as a curious 
old belfry hidden away among the trees in front of the ca- 
thedral, a pompous looking effigy of Magellan in a small 
park under the walls below the Puenta de Espana,a statue of 
Isabella II., in front of the Variedades theatre and various 
others of little artistic merit. Everywhere prevails a discour- 
aging air of neglect testifying to the hopeless decadence of 

201 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the spirit of enterprise which formerly distinguished the 
Spaniards in their establishment of this colony and in their 
construction of the public works which remain sad monu- 
ments to former glories. 

We made our acquaintance with the town under conditions 
so peculiar and unusual that we probably gained little idea of 
the pleasures of life in the capital and of the relations between 
the different classes of the population. For a day or two very 
few Spanish residents of the upper class were seen on the 
street, but when the Chinese coolies had brought back the 
furniture, which had been removed for fear of a bombard- 
ment and the markets opened and the horsecars began run- 
ning, the ordinary habits of life were taken up again and the 
usual recreations went on even to the afternoon parade of 
carriages around the desert of the Luneta. Except for the 
ubiquitous American soldiers the streets resumed their usual 
aspect. The Spanish ladies were a little slow in coming out, 
but they could not long resist the temptation to display their 
costumes to a largely increased number of spectators and 
promenaded with an air of conscious superiority of race and 
with most unbecoming expressions of scorn and discontent. 

The stock attractions to the sightseer besides those al- 
ready described are the tobacco factories, the cemetery and 
the observatory. The former establishments are scattered 
everywhere from the middle of the business quarter to the 
remote suburbs, and number a score or more, large and small, 
giving employment to over twenty thousand natives, men, 
women and children. Most of the tobacco used comes by 
water from the province of Cagayan. In the smaller manu- 
factories everything is done by hand, but the larger ones 
have all the improved machines for making cigarettes, some 
of which turn out sixty thousand a day, and for shaping the 
fillers of cheap cigars. These factories are wonderfully busy 
hives of labor and the natives who have small, nervous and 
nimble hands and whose ability to master difficult mechanical 

202 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

processes is very extraordinary, are skilful and reliable work- 
men. The cheaper grades of cigars are rolled by women 
and the fine, Havana-shaped ones are intrusted to the hands 
of men only. A good workman can seldom turn out more 
than one hundred and fifty of the best quality, while three 
times that number of the less expensive brands is no un- 
usual day's task. 

The Cemeterio General is situated on the Calle de Noza- 
leda or the Paco road, at the junction of this broad avenue 
with the Calle del Observatorio and the Calle de San Mar- 
celius, about three quarters of a mile from the walled town. 
It is a circular enclosure about one hundred and twenty-five 
yards in diameter, surrounded by two concentric walls or 
rows of vaults of solid masonry. Each of these vaults is just 
large enough to hold a coffin which is pushed in lengthwise 
and the opening sealed with a slab of stone. The plot of 
ground enclosed by the concentric walls is laid out like a 
garden with lawns, flowering shrubs and ornamental shade 
trees and at the end of a broad central path which leads from 
the imposing gateway in the street there stands a mortuary 
chapel which contains the tombs of several men prominent 
in the history of the colony. Behind the chapel, and ap- 
proached by means of a narrow stairway which leads up to 
the promenade on the top of the walls, is a deep pit or open 
cellar which is half full of human bones many of them evi- 
dently exposed to the elements but a short time, for long 
tresses of hair still cling to the skulls and other repulsive 
indications prove that they have been recently thrown upon 
the mouldering heap. The system of burial in this cemetery 
is scarcely in accordance with our ideas of respect for the 
dead. The vaults are leased on yearly payments and if the 
survivors of the deceased fail to pay the rent the remains 
are, after a stipulated number of notices, removed from the 
vault and thrown into the pit. The grewsome symbols of 
death which are prominently displayed at the end of beauti- 

203 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ful vistas through the overhanging shrubbery are but little 
less repulsive than the heap of bones and the visitor does 
not linger long in the enclosure although, apart from its sug- 
gestive horrors, it is by far the most finished and well-cared- 
for public garden in Manila. 

The observatory stands on the south side of the street 
which bears its name, rather more than half way from the 
cemetery to Ermita and, adjoining it are the grounds and 
extensive buildings of the Exposition Company. The large 
structure which contains the libraries, various class rooms, 
the apartments of the fathers, and the instruments for ob- 
serving the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere and 
the terrestrial disturbances, stands back a little from the 
road and is surrounded by immense shade trees. The tele- 
scope house is a little apart and a third building, devoted 
mainly to the department of magnetic observation, is situated 
behind the large one in a pleasant flower garden full of rare 
and beautiful tropical plants. 

Father Frederico Faura is the present director of the ob- 
servatory, Father Miguel Saderra Maso has charge of the 
department of seismography and Father John Doyle is the 
head of the department of magnetism. There are a number 
of native students in the institution pursuing special branches 
of study. All the elaborate drawing and engraving con- 
nected with the publication of the scientific works which are 
continually issued are done by natives, who show an excep- 
tional aptitude for these operations. The Jesuits all over the 
archipelago have always been on good terms with the na- 
tives, and while the Roman Catholic priests have, by their 
well known methods, excited the enmity of the Filipinos to 
such an extent that in many parishes the priests have been 
brutally murdered since the beginning of the insurrection, 
the Jesuit fathers have always been treated with great con- 
sideration and respect. 

I was not surprised, then, to find, on the occasion of my 

204 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

first visit to the observatory, the courtyard and the passages 
of the observatory crowded with women and children cook- 
ing and eating and carrying on all sorts of domestic opera- 
tions. Some fifteen hundred refugees sought an asylum there 
during the siege of the town and were cared for by the fath- 
ers as well as their resources would permit. It was not al- 
together a place of safety because the bullets frequently rat- 
tled against the walls and perforated the iron roof and shells 
sometimes burst in the garden, but the natives did not lose 
confidence in the ability of the fathers to protect them, and 
they remained there until all was quiet after the surrender. 

Father Faura kindly conducted me all over the institu- 
tion and patiently explained the mysteries of the intricate 
and elaborate machines for recording earthquake shocks and 
the subterranean disturbances. These instruments together 
with the great pendulum and various other appliances are 
attached to an immense pier of solid masonry, which extends 
from a deep foundation to the roof without anywhere com- 
ing in contact with the building itself. Around the walls of 
the room especially devoted to seismography, megaphones, 
telephones and phonographs are adjusted so as to transmit 
and record the noises which occur in the bowels of the earth. 
The large new telescope which, as I understood, had been 
imported from the United States, was not yet set up for the 
elaborate joinery of the interior of the building was not 
finished, the work having been delayed by the siege. The 
iron dome of the house is as full of bullet holes as a colan- 
der. 

Father John Doyle was not at home when I first visited 
the place but I met him on a subsequent occasion and found 
him to be just what his name suggested, an Irishman. He is 
enthusiastically devoted to science and is a man of great in- 
telligence, wide experience and remarkable general knowl- 
edge. I asked him how long he had been in Ireland. "Only 



205 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

just long enough to be born there !" was his characteristic 
reply, in a delicious brogue. 

The work accomplished by the Jesuit fathers in the ob- 
servatory is by no means confined to the study of earth- 
quakes and magnetic phenomena, for their most important 
function is the study of typhoons and the preparation of 
the weather reports which are of inestimable value to the 
navigators of the China sea and the adjacent waters. Four- 
teen substations have been established at different points in 
the archipelago and from these come daily and sometimes 
hourly reports by wire describing the meteorological condi- 
tions of the different localities. From these reports the ap- 
proach and probable force and direction of the dreaded 
typhoons, which have their origin among the islands or near 
at hand, is immediately anticipated and a warning telegram 
is sent at once to Hong-Kong and thence transmitted to all 
important shipping ports in the China and Yellow seas. The 
danger from these devastating cyclones is thus minimized 
and there have been of late years very few disasters from 
them at sea, although great havoc has been wrought in their 
path across the land. In general terms the average direc- 
tion of the typhoons is from the island of Luzon towards the 
coast of China near Hong-Kong, but they often take capri- 
cious routes which can be more or less accurately prognosti- 
cated by careful study of their behavior at the start. 

It was gratifying beyond expression to find these men de- 
voted to their endeavors to save life and property, and ab- 
sorbed in their scientific pursuits apparently unconscious of 
the abnormal conditions around them. The awe-inspiring 
and terrifying phenomena of nature with which their studies 
and observations have familiarized them made the conflict and 
bitter strife around them seem insignificant, puny and futile 
and they talked of the siege and of the recent battle at their 
very gates with a refreshing calmness and placidity almost 
suggestive of indifference but really born of the habits of 

206 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

thought which belong to their profession and to their chosen 
occupation. 

In that small room where every tremor of the earth is 
written down, one feels remote indeed from all the turmoil 
of the town and the wrangling and struggle of races and 
parties. The sensitive needle might record the shock of an 
exploding shell or the jar of a cannon, but it would be only 
a tiny, almost imperceptible waver on the line that marks 
the spasmodic throbbing of the earth which is constantly 
shaken by the restless forces which struggle to escape from 
the embrace of the solid crust. The thunders of the bom- 
bardment were music compared to the ominous and awful 
rumblings that precede and accompany an earthquake or a 
volcanic eruption, and the fathers smiled at the suggestion 
that they had ever been in danger at the hands of man. 



CHAPTER XV 

The troops were quartered in the town in the barracks 
vacated by the Spanish soldiers and in various buildings in 
those districts where it was considered necessary to keep a 
strong guard. It was evident from the first that garrison 
duty was not to the taste of the volunteers for they per- 
formed the dull routine of the day with an indifferent air 
and little enthusiasm. Now that the active part of the cam- 
paign was over they began to think of home, and soon grew 
to loathe the life they were leading in Manila. This was per- 
haps not the universal feeling, but it was noticeably the 
common one, and was mostly due without doubt to their inex- 
perience in military life. Discipline, as far as outside indica- 
tions went, became discouragingly slack for a certain pe- 
riod. I accompanied General Greene on a tour of inspection 
around his lines a day or two after the surrender and nearly 
every man we saw on duty along the boulevards where the 
guards were not directly under the eye of an officer was 
keeping his post in a way which proved that he no longer 
took an interest in his vocation. One sentinel had deposited 
his rifle on the grass and was seated with his back against 
a tree smoking a cigar ; another was sprawled out half asleep 
on a stone bench; others were familiarly hobnobbing with 
the natives and exhibiting the action of their rifles, and along 
the whole line there was a lamentable absence of martial 
spirit and pride. It was not their fault, perhaps, that their 
uniforms were ragged and dirty but they were careless in 
their dress even to ostentation. A common sight was a senti- 
nel on guard at a bridge or some other public place dressed 
in ragged trousers without gaiters, in a blue shirt which had 

208 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the sleeves cut off high up on the shoulders and a hat full of 
fantastic holes cut for the fun of the thing. 

There is always a reaction after the exciting period and 
climax of an active campaign and then is the time to keep 
the men up to the highest standard of appearance and disci- 
pline possible and to divert their minds by constant occupa- 
tion. The crew of an ocean steamer would become demoral- 
ized in a single short voyage unless they were always kept 
busy. 

The men were given freedom in place of occupation and 
the crowds in the streets made it appear that when off guard 
duty they were free to roam wherever they pleased. I do 
not remember to have seen any general orders, for the first 
week or two at least, which touched on the points above 
mentioned and, besides, it is a well known fact that the regi- 
mental commanders often acted independently in their desig- 
nated areas of occupation. One battalion which on the day 
of the surrender posted guards in the neighborhood wherever 
the major thought necessary never received a single order 
from headquarters for more than a month. It may be im- 
agined that all this indifference to the conventionalities of 
military duty made a great impression on the Filipinos and 
excited the ridicule and scorn of the fastidious Spaniards. 
The native is a keen observer and is very sensitive to im- 
pressions and his preoccupation at that time was, for evi- 
dent reasons, the study of the new type of man who had 
come to rule the country. He was not slow to make up his 
mind that the stranger was a good-natured, tender-hearted 
giant who had neither pluck nor military ardor and would 
be an easy victim to the superior fighting qualities of the na- 
tive race. 

The fourth expedition under command of General E. S. 
Otis arrived on the 21st, the day the cable was opened, bring- 
ing a notable addition to the forces not only in new organiza- 
tions but in recruits for those already in the field. Two days 
14 209 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

later General Merritt, under instructions from Washington, 
assumed the duties of military governor of the Philippines 
— a title not quite expressive of the limited scope of the posi- 
tion — and transferred the command of the Eighth Army- 
Corps to General Otis and there was an extensive movement 
of the pieces on the board with the exception of those officers 
who filled civil positions in the administration of the govern- 
ment. The office of the military governor was established 
near the palace of Malicafiang, in the house which had been 
occupied by the Spanish secretary to the governor-general 
and where Colonel Smith of the California regiment which 
guarded the palace and the neighborhood now had his head- 
quarters. 

Up to this time the Guardia Civil Veterana, an organiza- 
tion largely composed of natives who had served in the 
Spanish ranks, had continued to perform their duties as 
guardians of the peace of the town, but they had never been 
very efficient, and, after the surrender, being no longer re- 
sponsible to a rigidly autocratic head lost their interest and 
were rapidly becoming demoralized. The Thirteenth Min- 
nesota regiment was selected to act as police with Colonel 
Reeve as chief, and four companies were detailed to take 
the places of the Spanish organization. The Minnesota 
men turned out in captured white uniforms with straw som- 
breros and made quite a stir on their first appearance. It is 
scarcely necessary to add that they performed their duties 
with intelligence and zeal and that the effect of the change 
was very gratifying, although it was doubtless somewhat 
handicapped by the fact that they did not wear the recog- 
nized uniform of the United States troops. I quote an or- 
der issued a week later because it contains an allusion to cer- 
tain practices which were becoming notorious and indicated 
a growing spirit of arrogant independence among the in- 
surgents which had to be met with vigorous measures : 



210 



^gT 




GENERAL MACARTHUR AND GENERAL HALE IN CARRIAGES CON- 
SULTING WITH INSURGENT CHIEFS 




INSURGENTS DRAWN UP IN COMPANY FORMATION 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

"Headquarters of the Provost-Marshal-General and 
Military Commandant, 

"Manila, P. I., September 2, 1898. 
General Order No. 9. 

"The Thirteenth Minnesota U. S. Volunteers has been 
assigned to police duty and ordered to preserve the peace and 
decorum of the city ; and also to afford protection to all well 
disposed citizens who make application therefor at any of the 
stations formerly occupied by the Guardia Civil Veterana. 

"All disorders and crimes, reported as above, will be 
promptly investigated, especially attempts to impose taxes in 
public places, or to make collections for licenses for any pur- 
pose whatever, as no one is at present authorized to make 
such collections. 

"The soldiers of this regiment may be known by a dis- 
tinctive straw hat and a brass insignia, indicating the regi- 
ment and state to which they belong, worn upon the left 
breast. 

"By command of Brigadier-General MacArthur, 

"Provost Marshal-General. 

"John S. Mallory, 
"Inspector-General U. S. Vols., 

Adjutant-General. 

"Official. 

"P. Whiteworth 

"2nd Lieut., 18th U. S. Inf., 
"Aid." 

Almost immediately after the surrender the insurgent 
leaders, notably Pio del Pilar, a young man of considerable 
influence among the natives, an open advocate of the inde- 
pendence of the Filipinos and an avowed enemy of the 
Americans, began to assert their authority over the inhabi- 
tants and their right to govern the country by imposing taxes 
on all articles brought into the city. Often these taxes were 
prohibitive, and they were always so high that ordinary farm 
produce was, if obtainable at all, exceedingly dear. Meat 
rose to a dollar a pound, and eggs reached the high figure of 

211 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

seven dollars a hundred, while milk was ten times its usual 
price, and fruit and vegetables were at a great premium. 
Further, there were constant disturbances inside our lines, 
caused by natives of the insurgent force. Spaniards were 
often seized and dragged away, only to be released by our 
guards ; houses were looted, highway robberies and many 
other acts of violence were committed, most of which were 
traced to Pilar's men, some of whom carried written au- 
thority from him to carry arms within our lines. Several 
men were arrested who had warrants signed by the same 
officer appointing them as tax collectors and as head men in 
certain districts inside our area of occupation, and there was 
constant trouble in the markets on account of the forcible 
collection of taxes and license fees by the insurgent agents. 
These latter were the practices which the newly appointed 
police were especially instructed to suppress, but there was no 
means of putting an end to the tax collecting at the insurgent 
lines around the suburbs. Prices gradually came down to 
the war level as the insurgents found best to deal more or less 
gently with their own people and let them make all they 
could out of the Americans. 

Our legal minded methods, which had proved so expensive 
and cumbersome in the camp, were continued in the town, 
and the results of the system were felt all too soon. The na- 
tives held out for the high scale of wages established during 
the brief campaign, and it was impossible to employ labor 
for less than three times the ordinary compensation. Strikes 
on the horse car lines and in the manufactories became very 
frequent, and these together with the active recruiting which 
Aguinaldo was carrying on among the laborers and me- 
chanics, seriously affected all branches of industry and dis- 
organized trade just as it was beginning to flourish again. 
The additional burden of severe manual labor was put on our 
men, who should have been spared this, not only for reasons 
of their health, but for the dignity of their calling, for in a 

212 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

country where coolie labor is cheap and efficient, no white 
man is ever expected to perform the tasks undertaken by this 
useful class of the population. Clumsy buffalo carts heavily 
laden with commissary stores were dragged through the 
blistering heat of midday by fatigue parties of stalwart West- 
erners, and all sorts of menial tasks were performed with 
great cheerfulness, to be sure, but with a wasteful expendi- 
ture of strength and energy. I overheard one day a conver- 
sation between two privates which perfectly illustrated the 
spirit of the men. One said to the other : 

"Hello, Bill ! how're you getting on ?" 

"Bully !" was the reply. "Got a soft detail !" 

"Whereat?" 

"In the Commissary Department !" 

"Pushing a buffalo cart, I guess." 

"Right you are, the first time !" 

The Spanish and the insurgent officers were very careful 
to protect their men from the sun as well as from the rain 
by excellent shelters of nipa thatch, but it never seemed to 
occur to our officers that this was necessary, and the guard 
kept their posts in the blazing sun and in the terrible down- 
pours, apparently unconscious that protection from the ele- 
ments was as necessary to good health as proper food and 
pure water. It was marvellous that so few fell ill under this 
regime, but their vigorous constitutions and temperate habits 
pulled the men through and the general health continued to 
be remarkably good considering the life they led. Still, about 
ten per cent, of the force was on sick report within a month 
after the surrender. 

Most of the members and European employees of the im- 
portant business houses, chiefly Englishmen and Scotchmen, 
remained in the town during the siege, but as far as I could 
learn, only one American, Mr. W. A. Daland, had undergone 
the trials of this period of anxiety. All these gentlemen 
were most hospitable and friendly and, apart from the pleas- 

213 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ureof their society, which did much to reconcile us to our cas- 
ual mode of life, they were of the greatest service to us in our 
first days of bachelor housekeeping. Several of them had been 
in the country for many years, and at least one was connected 
by marriage with a leading Filipino family, and all had an 
accurate knowledge of the character of the natives which was 
acquired by long experience and intelligent observation. 
Two of the leading firms with which we were brought most 
in contact, Smith, Bell & Company, and Warner, Barnes & 
Company, were mines of valuable information to those of us 
who were seeking to learn something about the country and 
the people, because through their mills and agencies and 
other ramifications of their business all over the archipelago, 
they were in close touch with the natives and from long deal- 
ings with them appreciated their virtues and understood their 
faults. 

Never did a military expedition land on a foreign soil less 
well equipped with useful data about the country they were 
to occupy, or with such a small proportion of men who were 
qualified from previous experience or from investigation of 
the problems of colonization to direct the policy of the pro- 
posed administration. We were practically without accurate 
information on most of the important points which con- 
cerned our occupation of the country and our assumption of 
the functions of government. Even with the sources of in- 
formation indicated above, there was little effort made to 
study the intricate questions which multiplied as the work of 
the different departments of the temporary government be- 
gan, and it seemed to be, rather, the determination of those 
in authority to introduce purely American methods, with lit- 
tle regard for the previous conditions or for the existing tra- 
ditions. It was not to be expected, of course, that this first 
attempt at conquest and colonization would be more than ex- 
perimental and tentative, because there were no precedents 
in the history of the United States to serve as guides of ac- 

214 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

tion, and it was all the more important that a hint should be 
taken from the successful colonizers in the Far East, notably 
the English in the Malay peninsula and the Dutch in Java, 
both of which colonies have a native population similar in 
character to that of the Philippines. 

One great lesson taught by these colonies is that the only 
way to preserve amicable relations with the suspicious and 
hypersensitive Malay is to interfere as little as possible with 
the existing institutions of the country, trusting to time and 
to the gradual development of the influence of civilization to 
bring about desirable changes, and also to make it definitely 
understood in the beginning that the authority of the Euro- 
pean is absolutely unquestioned and supreme. 

Our position at Manila was unusual and peculiar, inasmuch 
as the status quo, the continuance of which was imposed 
by the terms of the protocol, gave us no authority outside 
the town and the bay, although we had a military gov- 
ernor of the Philippines at the head of the land forces. More- 
over, no one knew whether we were to go or to stay, nor was 
any one able to prophesy whether our administration of the 
public affairs of Manila would last long enough for order to 
be brought out of the confusion which existed in every de- 
partment. No more disheartening state of things could be 
imagined, and its moral effect on officers and men was almost 
as bad as the depression which would have followed a defeat. 
Further, while President McKinley's instructions to General 
Merritt as commander of the army of occupation of the 
Philippines were broad and comprehensive, and based almost 
entirely on the famous General Order Number ioo, they 
practically gave to the leader of the expedition a free hand to 
deal with the situation as he chose. Nevertheless, the fre- 
quent explicit orders received from Washington, particularly 
after the cable was opened, quite nullified this independent 
authority, and the policy of the governor-general and mili- 
tary governor of the Philippines was dicated from Wash- 

215 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ington where, naturally enough, the conditions existing in the 
colony were but vaguely comprehended if not wholly mis- 
understood. A more uncomfortable situation or one more 
calculated to bring discredit on our first trial at colonization 
could not possibly be invented, and the demoralization result- 
ing from it was far reaching and will undoubtedly last for 
years. 

Although the archbishop and other high dignitaries of the 
church strenuously and categorically denied that those 
priests who still held the respect and confidence of the na- 
tives were influencing them against the Americans, the in- 
surgents made no secret that the priests encouraged their 
aspirations for complete independence. If their word may 
be taken on this subject, they were also encouraged to make 
forcible resistance to American authority. One of the most 
convincing proofs of the hostile attitude of the priests was a 
widely circulated tract which was intended to ferment a 
spirit of antagonism, and I append a translation of this re- 
markable production, at the end of which was a rude illustra- 
tion of a Filipino harnessed to a wagon and driven by a 
Yankee. 
"To the Partisans of the Yankees : 

" The best Indian is a dead Indian/ — American proverb. 

"Read the extract from an article published in El Comercio 

of May 27, 1898, written by Father Garrand, S. J., and you 

will see, oh, Filipinos ! your future. Do not let yourselves 

be deceived by promises and appearances. 

"Among the works to which the Society of Jesus dedicates 
its watchful care in the United States of America, is the con- 
version and civilization of what remains of the Indian tribes 
in the Rocky Mountains and the foot-hills. 

"In the larger part of the territories colonized by the Pro- 
testants, especially by the Anglo-Saxons, the system followed 
with the natives when they refuse to work or topay taxes, 
is extermination, pure and simple. They begin this with bul- 
lets, with or without declaring war, and continue it with 
whiskey or other adulterated spirits. This last method, less 
odious in appearance, has been certainly the most fatal. This 

216 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

is why in Tasmania and Australia scarcely a native remains, 
and why they are rapidly disappearing in New Zealand. In 
the United States the flourishing tribes formerly counted 
millions of people, and to-day only a few hundred thousand 
remain who still live in peace, confined in semi-sterile regions 
which the adventurous gold-seekers still continue to invade. 
To be sure, the government has, at certain times, done much 
for the Indians, but often the different officials have largely 
nullified the effect of this, because more than half of the 
sums destined for the Indians remains in the hands of the 
agents. Many revolts of the natives are known to be caused 
by the failure to distribute the rations which are intended to 
support these miserable beings in the winter season. 

"It is commonly asserted in the United States that it is 
impossible to civilize the Indians, who are lazy, unwilling to 
do anything, and are evil-minded and destined to disappear. 
Honorable people, and even certain Roman Catholics are 
heard repeating the phrase which has now become a proverb : 
'The best Indian is the dead Indian,' and we Jesuits of the 
Rocky Mountains are more tolerated than liked by the Catho- 
lic population on the pretext that we do too much for the In- 
dians. 

"Our Indians have defects — we are the first to acknowledge 
it, but it is very often forgotten in these days that the civiliza- 
tion of a people or of a race is not done by steam-power. 
The first conquest of Paraguay was accomplished only at the 
end of a quarter of a century of constant toil, and that of a 
small and rudimentary character. In Europe the Franks of 
Charlemagne's time 'were by chance entirely civilized and 
preserved nothing of their primitive barbarism, notwith- 
standing three centuries had rolled by since the baptism of 
Clovis/ 

' 'The Yankees laugh at us/ said the great chief Ignatius 
to me. 'We cannot pray from our hearts when they are near 
us!' 

"About Christmas, in 1888, the grand council met and de- 
cided to build a church in the reservation. The most skilful 
carpenters took hold of the work, assisted by their fellow 
tribesmen, and in 1890 the edifice was completed, and it cer- 
tainly is an elegant structure. 

"I have mentioned Ignatius, the great chief of the Yaki- 
mas. He is certainly not beautiful to look upon, but he has 

217 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

energy and talent. He is the last survivor of the three chiefs 
who made the treaty of peace with the Americans in the war 
of 1855-56. Respected by the government and by all the 
tribe, he is a good Catholic. His wife Augustina is not in- 
ferior in intelligence to most white women, and enjoys an 
extraordinary influence among the faithful. 

"One day one of our fathers asked Ignatius : 

" 'When you were a boy, Ignatius, were there many Indi- 
ans in these mountains ?' 

" 'Yes, father, and they were happy and were different 
men/ 

" What do you mean by that ?' 

' 'They had food in abundance, deer on the mountains, 
buffalo on the plains, salmon in the river, wild potatoes in 
the ground and fruit on the trees. What a fine life ! Always 
hunting, eating, sleeping, and travelling!' 

" 'But now you are owner of a cottage like the Yankees, 
and you say you are more — ' 

"Ignatius interrupted, angry and indignant, and eloquently 
replied: 'The Yankees have done no good to the Indians, 
quite the contrary. Without counting the land they have 
robbed us of, they have decimated our tribes whenever they 
could and soon they will have exterminated our race. Before 
they came we did not know what illness was, and now 
scrofula and consumption are slowly destroying us. The 
Yankee catches us and decapitates us/ 

"Please God that these trifling notes which I have just 
written may attract to the last descendants of those native 
tribes the sympathy of those persons who are interested in 
the progress of distant missions. My last word will be to 
beg those who read this to pray for those unhappy Indians, 
and to supplicate the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate 
Virgin for courage and perseverance of her humble mission- 
aries. 

"What do you think of this Filipinos ? Will you still pre- 
serve your illusions ? 

— "Extract from 'The Catholic Missions/ " 

"Thus I have to run harnessed to a carriage, I, the Indian 
of British India, in order to earn my daily bread. Filipinos, 
you have to fear this evil for yourselves, because if the 
American heretics triumph here you with all your brothers 
will be treated in like manner." 

218 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Some of the most prominent of the early indications of the 
aggressive spirit of the insurgents have already been spoken 
of, but there were others so openly and so frequently mani- 
fested that it was plain to see that a revolt against the au- 
thority of the United States might occur at any moment, and 
on several occasions it was considered necessary to double the 
guards and to keep the men in quarters. Ten days after the 
surrender, one of the volunteers was killed and another se- 
verely wounded in a street brawl with the armed natives at 
Cavite. From what was learned at the time, a general at- 
tack on the American forces in Manila and Cavite was planned 
to take place on the first occasion when there would be found 
a reasonable pretext for it. If the revolt succeeded to any 
extent it would be a great triumph to the cause of Filipino 
independence, and if it were a failure, the outbreak could 
readily be denounced by Aguinaldo as the unauthorized ac- 
tion of one of his leaders, all of whom were supposed to be 
more or less independent chiefs. 

The relations between our troops and the insurgents at 
Cavite were, perhaps, even more strained than in Manila, be- 
cause the territory under joint occupation was much smaller, 
and the two forces were in closer contact. The natives, be- 
sides, had a more obnoxious air of proprietorship, which 
came from long possession of the town and their assumption 
of superior authority increased the tension more and more 
as time passed. Many things tended to keep up an active 
state of irritation, but nothing was more provocative of dis- 
like of the native character or indicated more plainly his cruel 
disposition and barbaric instincts, than the treatment of the 
Spanish prisoners who were confined in a military prison 
hospital a very short distance away from General Ander- 
son's headquarters, and directly opposite our own hospital 
building. Most of these prisoners were suffering from fe- 
vers of one kind or another and all were in a terrible state of 
emaciation and weakness. The windows of the lower floor 

219 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

were heavily barred, and those prisoners who were able to 

crawl up to the opening, were piteously begging all day long 
for food and money. Our men continually crowded around 
these windows, some from curiosity, but more from a desire 
to help the wretches and often shared their rations with them, 
and gave them what money they could spare. Our men had 
not been paid for two months, else the prisoners would 
doubtless have fared better in respect of cash contributions. 
The inmates of this prison died at a frightful rate, and 
oftener than not corpses would be seen among the living, 
lying stark for many hours before they were removed and 
dumped upon the sidewalk outside until they were carried 
away in a buffalo cart. One of our chaplains who asked for 
permission to read the service of his church over the dead 
in one of the rooms, was roughly denied this privilege, and 
he stood outside and read it through the grated window, to 
the great satisfaction of the surviving prisoners, and with the 
sympathetic encouragement of our soldiers. 

The insurgents in charge of the prison made little objection 
to visitors if they were officers or civilians, and I went over 
the institution several times, once in company with a surgeon 
who took occasion to examine several of the prisoners, and 
confirmed the truth of the common report that they were dying 
for lack of proper nourishment. We had a long conversation 
in French with three Spanish officers who were shut up in a 
little room on the second floor. This language was not un- 
derstood by the insurgent officer who was present, and they 
spoke freely and in detail of their treatment. No argument 
was necessary to prove that they were not only suffering 
from hunger, but also from the lack of medical care, and it 
was evident that they would not long survive if their condi- 
tion was not improved. The young insurgent remarked in 
Spanish, after we had left the room : 

"Those fellows have been telling you a pack of lies, I 
know ; they are just as well off as I am. Besides, they de- 

220 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

serve to die, for they tried to escape not long ago, and are 
always bothering me to turn them over to you Americans." 
It was incredible that such a state of affairs could exist 
within our lines, but the previous attempt to assist the Span- 
ish prisoners had resulted disastrously for them and, more- 
over, it was an unanswerable argument against interference 
that there were strict orders to avoid rupture with the natives 
at any cost. This revolting spectacle of starving men was a 
strange commentary on our humane crusade, all the same. 

The insurgent guards were everywhere very vigilant, and at 
times and in certain places it was impossible to pass their 
lines without a written authority from Aguinaldo. In the 
vicinity of the town, circulation in their zone of occupation 
was not prohibited in the daytime, and their sentinels seldom 
halted anyone. After dark it was a different story, as I fre- 
quently found when I was returning from the cable office to 
the palace. It was necessary, first, to pass their lines at 
Malate church, which was never difficult, because our men 
were constantly going to and from the stone fort. Then after 
about a mile within our lines I came upon the insurgent 
guards again in the Observatory road, where they had very 
strong detachments of men quartered in the exhibition build- 
ings and in the neighboring houses. In the darkness and 
pouring rain it was never pleasant to hear the rattle of the 
breech block of a Mauser and a sudden challenge, delivered 
in an excited tone. Many of the guards were boys of sixteen 
or seventeen years or perhaps younger, and were quite unac- 
customed to handle a rifle. Without any training as sol- 
diers to speak of, they only understood that part of their 
duties which consisted in halting anyone who approached, 
and keeping him at a safe distance and well covered with the 
rifle until an officer was called. Accidents might happen on 
any of these occasions and, indeed, the report of a rifle was 
no unusual sound at night, and ceased to excite remark. The 
half mile of this unlighted road was the part of the journey I 

221 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

never anticipated with pleasure, and always performed with 
a feeling of intense annoyance and irritation. We were thus, 
it will be understood, practically besieged by the insurgents, 
and unable to leave our own lines without acknowledging, 
tacitly at least, their authority everywhere the revolutionary 
flag was flying. 

The field of this symbol of Filipino independence is a white 
triangle bearing a representation of the Malay sun and three 
stars, which occupies the entire width of the staff end of the 
flag, the rest of it being divided into two stripes, the upper 
one blue and the lower one red. For nearly a month after 
the surrender this aggressive emblem was flying on all the 
Spanish defences in the suburbs except the stone fort, was 
impudently fluttering within a few yards of our sentinels, 
even in the heart of the European quarters, and was promi- 
nently displayed in Paco, Santa Ana, Caloocan, and other 
neighboring towns, and even in Cavite. It was recognized 
as the banner of freedom up the Pasig, all over the Laguna 
de Bay and in the harbor, where every native boat of any size 
whatever carried it at the mast-head. The insurgents even 
planted it on the island of Corregidor, and took formal pos- 
session of this commanding position, but Admiral Dewey 
promptly ordered them off and threatened their fleet with 
extermination if they trespassed on his preserves. 

Many wild reports constantly flew about the town regard- 
ing imminent hostilities, but these were usually traced to 
brief disturbances at the outposts. They had the effect, 
however, of exciting the suspicion of both parties, and of 
keeping alive the irritation. A letter from one of the soldiers 
to General Merritt shows the tenor of the gossip among the 
men, and has a grain of humor about it which is worthy of 
the situation. I suppress for obvious reasons the name of 
the soldier and of his regiment. It read as follows : 



222 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

"Manila, 22. 
"Headquarters Volunteers. 

"General Wesley Mekritt : 

"My dear gen.: — A rumer comes to me of a price on the 
head of insurgent leader, if its true and you want his head I 
can serve it up in any style. 

"Yours respectfully, 



Although the military organization of the insurgents was 
chaotic, and the leaders of the different forces around the 
town did not, at first, always acknowledge the authority of 
Aguinaldo, they all worked very diligently to bring the army 
up to a reasonable standard of discipline, and to increase the 
number of men under arms. Within a few days after the 
surrender, large bodies of recruits could be seen drilling on 
all sides, imitating the manoeuvres of our troops and con- 
stantly practising volley firing. It is only just to state that 
wherever the insurgents went they preserved order among 
their own people, and that Aguinaldo, in his character of 
Father of his Country, exercised a paternal care over the 
morals of the natives which is much to be commended. 
Among other reforms, he put a stop to cockfighting and 
gambling, issued a strict order against the carrying of arms 
by civilians, forbade the exposure of corpses on the street, 
which was always part of the funeral ceremonies, and pun- 
ished severely any infraction of these regulations. Only one 
case illustrating his methods of discipline came under my 
notice. I was visiting a tobacco factory in the suburbs in 
company with two or three friends, when there appeared a 
group of insurgent officers with a man under guard. He 
was identified by the manager of the factory as an individual 
who had, on the day of the surrender, invaded the establish- 
ment with a following of two or three hundred armed natives 
and, professing to be an insurgent colonel, had forcibly taken 
possession of the safe and carried away several hundred dol- 

223 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

lars in cash and the manager's revolver. As soon as the 
identity of the man was proved beyond dispute, the officers 
remarked that, inasmuch as he had never been an officer and 
had committed robbery under arms, they should have him 
shot at once. By the expression on the victim's face it was 
apparent that he had no hope of reprieve or escape, and they 
led him away and promptly shot him without further trial. 

From various sources of information we were able to esti- 
mate the number of rifles in the hands of the insurgents to 
be in the neighborhood of thirty-five thousand. They were 
allowed to take two thousand five hundred from the Cavite 
arsenal ; imported two thousand through Jackson & Evans ; 
received about nine thousand through the revolt of the militia 
who, after the amnesty, only returned about one quarter of 
the weapons which the Spanish government provided them 
with; and, according to the most reliable accounts, were 
supposed to have about fifteen thousand rifles which had been 
acquired in previous insurrections. It was impossible, of 
course, to verify this last estimate. At any rate the number 
of men in the army which Aguinaldo commanded could not 
now be far from the above estimated total of rifles, but these 
troops were by no means all in the vicinity of Manila. Many 
small expeditions were sent to besiege the Spanish garrisons 
in the outlying provinces, a large force was prepared for a 
dash into the island of Panay to occupy Iloilo, and take pos- 
session of Cebu and other neighboring islands. 

On the 27th of August the news came that Aguinaldo was 
about to move his headquarters from Bacoor to Malolos, a 
large town on one of the numerous inlets of the north shore 
of the bay, thirty-seven kilometres or a little over twenty- 
three miles from Manila. At the same time it was announced 
that a call had been issued for delegates chosen by uni- 
versal suffrage in the different provinces to assemble 
at Malolos at an early date, there to hold a congress 
and to establish a revolutionary government in the name 

224 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

of the Filipino Republic. Almost simultaneously with these 
interesting items of news came a well confirmed report 
that several thousand rifles and four Maxim guns had 
been landed at Batangas, the capital of the province of that 
name in the south of Luzon, whence they could be trans- 
ported overland to the Laguna de Bay, or in native boats by 
sea to Malolos, without fear of hinderance. 

The change of insurgent headquarters and the proposed 
establishment of a formal government, as well as the concen- 
tration of the bulk of the native troops north of Manila, were 
plain enough indications that, whatever might be the decision 
of the Paris Commission, the Filipinos did not propose to 
submit to any outside authority without a struggle, and were 
making a large bid for recognition as a nation by the powers 
interested in the colonization of the East. It also encouraged 
the suspicion that Aguinaldo would delay his open resistance 
to American authority only to such a time as he was able to 
organize his army and prepare it for a campaign. The official 
organ of the insurgents, the Independencia, began publica- 
tion about this time, and its sentiments were unmistakable, 
for no attempt was made to conceal the feeling that the 
Americans were interlopers and that their reign would soon 
be over. This newspaper was edited by a coterie of young 
men, among whom Antonio Luna, who afterwards held an 
important command in the insurgent army, was a prominent 
figure. 

This new move was of considerable strategic importance, 
and significance, because it involved the possession of the 
railway line and the advantages of a position controlling a 
number of rich and flourishing provinces inhabited largely 
by the Tagalo race, from which districts it was easy to draw 
large supplies and many recruits. The province of Cavite 
had been much exhausted by the campaign there, and was, 
from its position, its shape and its topography, little suited 
for aggressive or for defensive operations. A similar move 

15 225 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

had been made during the insurrection, which began just one 
year before, and with the mountains at their back, the in- 
surgents had successfully resisted the Spaniards and so har- 
assed them that they finally sued for peace, and at Biac- 
nabato an impregnable stronghold in the mountains north of 
Manila, Aguinaldo had sold out his cause for a certain 
amount of cash, a notable sum in promises to pay and the as- 
surances of desired reforms. 

What might have been the action of General Merritt after 
this unmistakable declaration of the intentions of the insur- 
gents, it is difficult to say, for he had no opportunity of initi- 
ating a new policy nor indeed of continuing his old one, be- 
cause, on the very day after we learned of the proposed 
change of Aguinaldo's headquarters, a telegram came from 
Washington ordering the general to proceed at once to Paris 
to appear before the commission there. General Greene and 
General Babcock were ordered home a few hours later, and in 
two days these three generals embarked for Hong-Kong on 
the China with their aids and a number of other passengers 
including a native of the name of Agoncillo, who was per- 
mitted, at the instance of Aguinaldo, to take passage on his 
way to Washington as a special envoy to place the claims of 
the insurgents before the United States government. 

With the departure of General Merritt and his party, a 
fever of unrest possessed nearly all the officers except those 
who had recently arrived, and who had not suffered from 
the depressing effects of the anti-climax of the campaign. 
The wires were kept hot with requests for recall and for 
leaves of absence, and those who were ordered home were 
looked upon as specially favored individuals. This feeling 
among the officers soon spread to the ranks, and gained 
strength there every day until even those who had been un- 
affected by the reaction from the excitement of life in the 
trenches, began to get the contagion of homesickness, to- 
gether with the impression induced by the departure of the 

226 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

military governor of the Philippines and two of his most 
active and efficient generals, that after all the talk about 
trouble with the insurgents the game was finished. The 
regimental commanders, finding that their men were in a fair 
way to be demoralized by this fever of homesickness, now 
encouraged among them all sorts of diversions and recrea- 
tions compatible with their duties. The base ball was flying 
in the streets in the suburbs, and evening concerts and vari- 
ety performances were given with great success, particularly 
by the California Regiment, in the court yard, or patio, of a 
residence in San Miguel, said to belong to a wealthy China- 
man, which was admirably adapted for such performances. 
Nearly every afternoon a full regiment was marched over to 
the Campo de Bagumbayan, and went through a dress pa- 
rade there in the presence of many hundreds of spectators. 
Guard mounts were held on the avenues and became more 
and more important functions, and the battalion parades at 
night always assembled a crowd of natives, who gazed with 
wondering eyes on the evolutions of the giant strangers. 

General Otis and his personal staff, together with General 
Hughes, who assumed the duties of provost-marshal, in 
place of General MacArthur, who returned to the command 
of his brigade, moved into the palace of Malicanang a day or 
two after General Merritt went away, and of the original 
mess on the Newport there soon remained only Major Simp- 
son, Major Wadsworth and myself, who were courteously 
invited to retain our quarters there. The inevitable confu- 
sion resulting from the changes in the administration, and 
the reassignment of many of the important positions made 
the burden thrown upon the shoulders of General Otis no 
light one to carry, and, although he had been overwhelmed 
with work from the moment he arrived, he assumed the 
added responsibilities and undertook his new functions with 
wonderful zeal and energy. He did not deceive himself with 
any theories about evacuation or the recognition of the Fili- 

227 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

pino Republic, but preoccupied himself with the serious en- 
deavor to bring order out of almost hopeless confusion, and 
to provide for every emergency which was suggested by the 
anomalous conditions of the occupation and the increasing 
complications of the insurgent question. With an excep- 
tional capacity for work, and an eminent ability to master 
the details of every operation, he made the result of his la- 
bors felt in a very few days. Every possible encouragement 
was given to the resumption of trade with the other ports of 
the archipelago ; the cable to Iloilo was opened and amicable 
relations were established with the Spanish military gover- 
nor there, and the public began to gain confidence in the per- 
manency of the American occupation. Colonel Whittier 
continued to carry on the affairs of the custom-house with 
great success, and the total receipts for duties during the first 
two weeks of his administration were $255,395.55 (Mexican 
money), of which $81,171.46 was paid in one day. 

Possibly encouraged by the license which was permitted 
the natives in their newspaper the Independencia, the Span- 
ish press began to publish articles not only aggressive in tone, 
but full of inventions, to call them by no stronger term. The 
editors who published the most flagrant of these screeds were 
warned by General Hughes that their newspapers would be 
suppressed unless the attacks on the good faith of the United 
States government and the honor of its army were discon- 
tinued. 

Whenever there was an alarm, which was not an infre- 
quent occurrence, the alacrity with which the troops turned 
out, and the immediate occupation of strategic points by im- 
portant detachments was a welcome guarantee to the peace- 
ful inhabitants that the order of the town would be preserved, 
and their lives and property would be adequately protected. 
The terror of the insurgents, which was an inheritance from 
the previous outbreak excited by the Catipunan society, as 
well as from the recent investment of the town, gradually 

228 




ELWELL S. OTIS 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

subsided in presence of the proofs of constant vigilance 
which were frequently displayed by the action of the troops, 
and a sense of comparative security was felt in all quarters. 

The first step taken by General Otis to show that he pro- 
posed to be master of the situation, was the issue of an order 
to Aguinaldo to evacuate the suburbs of the town. The 
terms of the ultimatum had the approval of the government 
at Washington, and it was sent to Malolos on Friday, Au- 
gust 9. It was a carefully worded document, and stated in 
concise and plain language the reason why the various de- 
mands of the insurgents could not be allowed, and why they 
were ordered to withdraw from the immediate vicinity of the 
town. I am able to quote from memory with tolerable ac- 
curacy the text of the most important paragraph of the ulti- 
matum, which will give a fair idea of its general tenor : 

"It only remains for me, therefore, to notify you that my 
instructions compel me to demand that your armed forces 
evacuate the entire city of Manila and its suburbs, and that I 
shall be obliged to take action to that end within a very short 
time if you refuse to comply with my government's demands, 
and I hereby serve notice upon you that, unless you remove 
your troops from the city of Manila and the line of its sub- 
urbs before the 15th of September, I shall take forcible ac- 
tion, and my government will hold you responsible for any 
unfortunate consequences which may ensue." 

The ultimatum, as we learned from many sources, was 
an unpleasant surprise to Aguinaldo and his officers. They 
had hitherto been undisturbed in their possession of the sub- 
urbs and as far as headquarters was concerned their presence 
had been absolutely ignored from the beginning. Many were 
in favor of immediate resistance and all were in a state of ex- 
citement which did not promise for peace. In this emergency 
there were brought into the councils at Malolos certain Fili- 
pinos of some eminence in the legal profession who argued 
that General Otis had taken a logical position and that it was 

22Q 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

best, for the present at least, to submit to the authority of the 
United States government, particularly because, as was 
stated in the ultimatum, Admiral Dewey was in accord with 
the commander-in-chief. Their sober advice prevailed and 
a delegation was sent to General Otis. They explained in 
terms which had now become stale from much repetition that 
Aguinaldo desired above all to be friends with the Ameri- 
cans ; that he could not control his men if it became known 
that he was ordered to evacuate the town by General Otis; 
that he had all he could do to restrain their belligerent ardor 
and he was sure they would never submit to his humiliation 
at the hands of the Americans. Therefore, the delegates 
asserted that if the terms of the ultimatum were changed so 
as to suggest the idea of a friendly request instead of a de- 
mand, Aguinaldo would willingly order his troops to evacu- 
ate the suburbs. The general refused to change the phra- 
seology or to write a new order, and only consented, after 
much argument, to send a letter to Aguinaldo stating that he 
had carefully discussed the matter with the delegates and ex- 
plained to them his views which they thoroughly understood 
and agreed with. This interview was quite a characteristic 
exposition of Filipino methods which are quaintly tinged 
with puerility and are seldom based on a solid foundation of 
sincerity or truth. 



CHAPTER XVI 

The Manila-Dagupan railway, which was finished a few 
years ago, was built by English capital, is controlled by an 
English company and is under the management of Mr. Hor- 
ace L. Higgins. It connects the bay of Manila with the gulf 
of Lingayen, passing through the provinces of Manila, Bula- 
can, Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan and terminating at 
the town of Dagupan, the capital of the province of Pangasi- 
nan, one hundred and twenty-two miles and a fraction from 
Manila. It is a single track of three-foot-six gauge and there 
are twenty-seven stations, all told, including the termini. 
Until the railway was built all the land traffic of any impor- 
tance on the island of Luzon was carried on over three great 
post routes with their secondary branches. The first leads 
through the provinces now crossed by the railway and then 
in a northerly direction near the coast through La Union, 
South Ilocos and to the town of Laoag, the capital of the 
province of North Ilocos, situated near the mouth of the 
Rio Grande de Laoag, a short distance south of Cape Bojae- 
dor, the northwesterly point of the island. The second, three 
hundred and fifty-three miles in length, traverses the prov- 
inces of Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga and Neuva Ecija, 
crosses the south Caraballo range into Neuva Vizcaya and 
follows the valley of the great Rio Grande de Cagayan 
through La Isabela and Cagayan to Aparri, a small port on 
the China sea at the mouth of the river. The third highway, 
three hundred and four miles in length, takes a general east- 
erly direction through the province of Manila, across Laguna, 
Batangas, Tayabas, north and south Camarines and Albay 
to the capital of this province which bears the same name. 

231 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

There is no richer territory in the tropics than that traversed 
by these three routes and the most populous and fertile por- 
tion of the island is found in the provinces directly to the 
north of Manila. The railway was projected to connect the 
centres of population in this region with the capital and to 
form a trunk line of a system which could be extended as 
circumstances might dictate. The physical difficulties in the 
way of construction were not great; there are few long 
bridges, no tunnels, and only one cutting of any importance. 
Nevertheless it was no small undertaking, for the climate 
was exceedingly trying to the Europeans who were not sea- 
soned by long residence and the Spaniards, with their dicta- 
torial and obstructionist methods, handicapped the enterprise 
with wearisome and annoying delays. It was only finished 
after a long period of energetic and continuous labor through 
all of which Mr. Higgins was a most efficient and stimulat- 
ing chief, untiring in energy, irrepressibly cheerful in dispo- 
sition, tactful in his dealings with both Spaniards and na- 
tives and full of resources in every emergency. There is 
probably no European on the island who understands better 
how to harmonize the constantly recurring antagonisms be- 
tween the races or who more thoroughly understands the 
nature of the half civilized tribes which occupy this part of 
the island. Of the numerous dialects spoken in the archi- 
pelago at least six are heard along the railway, Tagalo being 
the first in importance and Ilocan the next.* 



*In the official guide to the Philippines for 1898, compiled and 
published by the late^ secretary to Governor-General Augustin, is 
found a list of the various dialects and patois spoken in the archi- 
pelago, which gives an excellent idea of the wonderful variety of races 
and tribes among the population and of the extent of their isolation 
which is indicated by this remarkable diversity of speech. The list 
is, probably, not fully complete, because certain regions of the inte- 
rior of several islands are yet to be explored. Arranged in alpha- 
betical order the names of these dialects are as follows: Apayao, 
Agutaino, Ata, Batae, Banao, Bilan, Bilan-sanguil, Buquitnon, Can- 
canay, Cataoan, Coynoo, Calamiano, Calaganmanobo, Catalangan, 
Carolano, Dadaya, Dulagan, Engongote, Guinaan, Gaddan, Guianga, 

232 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

During the siege, Mr. Higgins with his wife and children 
continued to live at Caloocan in his comfortable villa along- 
side the railway near the repair shops and storehouses and 3 
although they were compelled by the Spanish bullets which 
entered the house to seek other quarters on several occa- 
sions, they suffered no great material loss. The insurgents 
cut the line in various places early in May and posted two 
large smoothbore cannon near Manila, and, as the Spaniards 
were scattered along the railway in considerable numbers, 
there were frequent small engagements between Manila and 
Dagupan, always with the same result and in a few weeks the 
insurgents occupied the whole territory. Then, not satis- 
fied with the great amount of money and valuables they had 
captured in the numerous religious establishments, they be- 
gan to levy taxes on the inhabitants. In the course of this 
campaign a number of stations were severely damaged, the 
contents of some of them completely destroyed or stolen and 
the terminal at Dagupan entirely consumed by fire. Two 
or three station-masters were killed or kidnapped, and 
the service was disorganized generally. The rolling-stock 
which was carefully watched by Mr. Higgins and protected 
to the best of his ability, was not much injured and only a 
few repairs to the line were needed to put the road in run- 
ning order after the surrender. 

Up to the time Aguinaldo decided to move his headquar- 
ters to Malolos he successfully practised the Spanish manana 
method as regards the operation of the railway until he 
found it would be to his own interests to make use of this 
convenient means of communication and then he gave to Mr. 
Higgins the desired permission to open the line for traffic in 

Ilocan, Ibanag, Inabaloy, Ibilao, Itetepan, Itaves, Idayan, Iliano, 
Iraya, Ifuga, Joloano, Manobo, Mamanua, Mandaya, Malanag, 
Maguindano, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Samal-laut, Subanao, Samal§s, 
Tiruray, Tagabanua^ Tagacaolo, Tagabeli, Tagalo, Tinguian, Tin- 
guian-apayao, Tinguian-cancanay, Tandolano, Tino, Vicol, Visaya, 
Visaya-boholano, Visaya-panayano, Visaya-cebuano, Visaya-hala- 
gueina and halayo, Yacan, Yogat, and Zamboangan Spanish. 

233 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

a general order "To the military commanders of the Fourth 
Zone of Manila and the other provinces traversed by the 
railway," signed by his brother in his capacity of Secretary 
of War. The order reads, in translation, as follows : 

"Revolutionary Government of the Philippines, 

"Military Department. 

"Secretary of War: At the request of the director of 
the Manila-Dagupan Railway Company, he is authorized to 
continue the line into the station of Manila under the condi- 
tion that no foreign troops, including the Spanish, shall be 
conveyed to points in possession of this government and that 
our forces shall be permitted to hold under guard the station 
at Caloocan and to inspect the trains there. By virtue of 
this permission you will give proper orders to the forces un- 
der your command that they shall place no impediment in 
the way of repairing the line and shall abstain, under severe 
penalties, from interfering with it for any reason except in 
the case of transportation of foreign troops. 
"The Secretary of War, 

"Baldornero Aguinaldo." 

Bacoor, August 31, 1898." 

There was no mistaking the meaning of the condition im- 
posed on running the trains and Mr. Higgins consulted with 
General Otis before deciding to open the line. The general, 
probably having in mind the interests of the commercial 
houses who had great quantities of rice and other products 
at their mills along the railway, took no notice of the order 
except to assure Mr. Higgins that he would be unable to 
protect the property of the railway company outside the 
lines occupied by the American troops. 

All the repairs were completed on Friday, September 2, 
and Mr. Higgins invited a few friends to accompany him on 
the following day on a trip over the entire line. The party 
consisted of Colonel Whittier, Major Bement, Mr. Robert 
H. Wood, of the firm of Smith, Bell & Company, Mr. H. 
W. Price, Mr. Higgins and myself. Although this was the 

234 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

first train out of Manila for nearly three months, the event 
had not been advertised in any way and, besides the station 
guard from the Third Artillery, there were no spectators on 
the platform except a few employees. The train was made up 
of an engine, a box-car, and Mr. Higgins's private car. The 
latter is very ingeniously arranged with an observation room 
at either end and a comfortable dining room in the middle. 
The kitchen paraphernalia — ice box, petroleum stove and 
provision safe — is portable and is transferred to the observa- 
tion room at either end according to the direction in which the 
train is running. The roof of the car, like all the passenger 
coaches of the line, is double, with an overhanging dust and 
rain shield extending the whole length of the eaves, permit- 
ting the free circulation of air between the two coverings. 

The Manila station, which is rather an imposing structure 
with a spacious yard and various adjoining buildings, stands 
on the boulevard not far from the water front and, beyond 
it to the north, are few or no habitations except scattered na- 
tive huts and an occasional two-storied house of the usual 
type with corrugated iron roof and concha-shell windows. 
About a mile from the station, the line enters a tract of coun- 
try identically the same in general character as that which 
was occupied by the opposing forces south of the town, small 
swamps lying between bamboo thickets and hedges and sur- 
rounded by impassable tangles of undergrowth. Here, close 
alongside the railway stands Blockhouse One, a plank struct- 
ure of the regular type, surrounded by admirably constructed 
earthworks with traverses and covered ways, and not over 
two hundred yards away, across an open swamp, the insur- 
gents had a large smooth-bore ship's gun in position on the 
railway near a native house. They confessed to having fired 
this piece over two hundred times without once hitting the 
blockhouse opposite. 

At this point their earthworks extend right and left 
through the bamboo thickets, well masked by the dense vege- 

235 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

tation and the positions marked only by the bamboo clumps 
which have been fairly mown of! by Mauser bullets a dozen 
feet or so above the ground. The white-clad insurgents were 
out in full force along their old lines and in the Spanish 
works, swarming in the bushes on every side. On the ap- 
proach of the train some of the men awkwardly presented 
arms and here and there a native armed with a Mauser rifle 
would pop out of the undergrowth near the track, hold his 
weapon in readiness and stare at us as we passed, with a 
puzzled look as if uncertain whether to fire or not. On 
slightly higher ground, a little over three miles from Manila, 
we came to the station of Caloocan, a busy and prosperous- 
looking place with large machine shops, great quantities of 
construction material, and sidings crowded with freight and 
passenger cars. A strong detachment of native soldiers oc- 
cupied the station and long files of them could be seen mov- 
ing away in various directions as if some important manoeu- 
vres were in progress. Beyond Caloocan the country opens 
out into a succession of low uplands followed by a tract cov- 
ered with immense rice fields broken by innumerable inlets 
whence the view extends far to the north into a broad valley 
bounded on the west by the Mariveles or west-coast range 
which form a jagged barrier not unlike the Dolomites in out- 
line, and on the east by the succession of grand peaks of the 
Caraballo range, the back-bone of the island. In the early 
part of the day these summits stood out sharply against a 
clear sky, but, as the hour of noon approached, small wreaths 
of vapor began to settle on their flanks and soon great cumu- 
lus clouds were formed and hid the highest peaks with daz- 
zling sunlit masses. The day was perfect. A bright sun 
was shining and the sky was as soft and clear as in June on 
the Atlantic seaboard. The temperature, moreover, was no 
more oppressive than on an average July day in New Eng- 
land and a gentle breeze made the air seem vital and re- 
freshingly cool. The landscape of the great valley gave, in 

236 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

the distance at least, little suggestion of the tropics. The 
immense rice fields with their carpet of bright green paddy 
shimmered like young wheat in the warm sunlight, and the 
rounded forms of manga trees, accentuating with their 
dense, dark foliage the lighter masses of the cultivated 
ground, gave all the appearance of a pleasant farming coun- 
try in some fertile region of the temperate zone. 

After we passed Malolos, now interesting to us as the 
chosen seat of the revolutionary government, but scarcely 
visible from the train except as to its church towers, and as 
we steamed on past Calampit to San Fernando, a large town 
in the province of Pampanga at the junction of two impor- 
tant post roads, the horizon to the northeast was broken by a 
grand and lofty peak of Mount Arayat, which rose out of 
the plain before us as prominent a landmark as Vesuvius 
from the bay of Naples and disturbed the impression of a 
home landscape with its perfect cone. This is one of the 
many extinct volcanoes which are seen everywhere in the 
Philippines, but from its isolated position, immense size and 
symmetrical form is regarded by the inhabitants with especial 
veneration and many legends are related of its origin and of 
its former activity. It is wooded to the very crest of its 
broken crater and all traces of fire have long since disap- 
peared under the cloak of verdure which softens every rug- 
ged line of its flanks and conceals all its ancient scars. It 
was only at a moderate distance in the perspective, of course, 
that the peculiarities of the tropical vegetation did not strike 
the eyes. Near at hand, the unfamiliar foliage and the start- 
ling dimensions of the leaves, the uncouth shapes and gro- 
tesque character of many of the plants and trees, the rank 
growth of reeds and grass and moss, and, withal, the bar- 
baric huts, the busy natives working in the paddy fields in 
the scantiest of garbs and the clumsy water buffaloes wal- 
lowing in the muddy pools, made a perfect tropical picture. 
Occasionally we saw in the shadeless open country immense 

237 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

congregations of small huts of the simplest bamboo and nipa 
construction, desolate in spite of their numbers, uninviting 
and bald. No familiar grove of friendly native trees, no 
clusters of broad-leaved plantains, no little gardens, gave to 
these villages the pleasant and hospitable air which distin- 
guishes even the rudest habitation of the home-loving na- 
tive. These were monuments to Spanish misrule, to the fu- 
tile endeavor of the dominant race to crush the native's spirit 
by outraging his traditions, his sentiments and his most inti- 
mate desires. The Spanish instituted in this region, as they 
did in Cuba, a system of reconcentration and obliged the in- 
habitants to leave their houses, which were everywhere scat- 
tered among the trees, and to assemble in villages like the one 
I have described in the open country, away from the shelter 
of the trees, where they could be under easy inspection and 
control. This spectacle gave me a better idea of the extent 
and kind of Spanish oppression than anything I saw in Ma- 
nila and left in my mind a feeling of repugnance for the 
Spanish methods of government which time does not miti- 
gate nor the perspective of long dist-nce soften in the least 
respect. 

Broadly speaking, the first third of the railway line runs 
through a purely rice-producing district, the second third 
through a sugar-cane country and the last part through a 
more purely tropical region where cocoanut palms are abund- 
ant, coffee is grown and spices and other minor products of 
the soil are found. For the larger extent of the whole line, 
water courses are numerous and in one place alone, a short 
distance north of Tarlac, one of the most flourishing towns 
through which the railway passes, is there any high ground 
worthy to be so described. Here there are a few slight 
gradients and a single fairly deep cutting through a stratum 
of volcanic stone. Everywhere in the outskirts of the towns, 
at the rivers and often in the open fields we saw freshly-con- 
structed trenches, apparently in quite recent use and, at 

238 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

nearly every station Spanish prisoners were lounging about 
apparently quite contented with their lot. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon we reached the freight 
station at Baulista, a little village near the town of Bayam- 
bang in the province of Pangasinan. Here is situated one of 
the large rice mills of Smith, Bell & Company, and, in the 
house of Mr. Clarke, the manager, we were to pass the night. 
The huge, corrugated-iron mill with its ugly chimney and 
clustering go-downs where the paddy is stored, is the princi- 
pal feature of the landscape and dominates with irritating 
ugliness the long straggling village of native huts which are 
huddled together near a rapidly flowing but muddy stream. 

We found the residence of our host to be a commodious, 
newly-built house of the usual type, shell windows and all, 
standing well back in a large enclosure facing the village 
street and surrounded on three sides by groves of palm trees. 
We were soon established in rooms which seemed palatial in 
their appointments compared with any we had occupied since 
leaving Honolulu and, after an inspection of the interesting 
process of hulling and cleaning rice in the mill, we had time 
to make a tour of the village and to study, all too superficially, 
the type and the habits of life of the natives in this, the heart 
of the insurgent country, far away from the turmoil of the 
capital. 

The peasants here bear all the marks of the tiller of the 
soil. The color of the skin resembles that of the peons of 
Mexico and the hair is black, coarse and abundant. The 
type is stronger, a trifle heavier and more brutal than is met 
with in the neighborhood of Manila, and there is a notable 
mixture of Chinese blood in many of the families. They are 
industrious, up to a certain point at least, and are remarkably 
frugal and temperate. The prominent characteristics of these 
natives make them excellent and capable workmen. They 
are quick to learn, are interested in mechanical operations 
for which they have distinct talents, and have the sensitive 

239 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and nervous temperament of the pure Malay. In their love 
for music, their predilection to acquire what is not strictly 
their own and in their instinct for trading, they are not unlike 
the gypsies of Europe. The women, at least those of pure 
stock, are often decidedly comely. They have a wide oval 
face, rather a flat profile, a well-formed but rather broad 
nose, a finely-cut mouth with excellent teeth, well-set, dark 
and expressive eyes, a strong but small chin and a low fore- 
head from which the sleek, black hair is drawn tightly back 
and twisted into a simple knot. Their dress is quite the same 
as that of the native women in the vicinity of Manila. On 
week days and when at work they wear a simple jacket and 
sarong, but on holidays they wear much more civilized at- 
tire, a bright-colored petticoat with a narrow sarong wrapped 
about the waist and tucked in as the towel is fastened in a 
Turkish bath, a white cotton chemise often richly embroid- 
ered, and a transparent pina-cloth jacket with broad sleeves 
and a kerchief of the same material. Very few ornaments 
are worn by them and we saw no personal decorations in the 
way of gold and silver except a few rings and simple brace- 
lets. The men dress according to their work and their station, 
the field hands often wearing all day long in the hot sun noth- 
ing more than a breech cloth, and those in the village affecting 
loose jacket and trousers, always of white cotton. Both men 
and women habitually go barefooted, but, in wet weather, 
high wooden clogs, not unlike those in use in Japan, are 
worn by both sexes. Women are seldom seen with a head- 
covering of any kind, except, perhaps, a kerchief, but the 
men, like all half-civilized people, are very fond of European 
hats, particularly the stiff black ones which they wear with 
great pride. In the rice fields they often protect their heads 
with the umbrella-like palm leaf disks such as the Chinese 
and Japanese coolies wear. 

The native house of the common type is built usually with 
a framework of bamboo poles and covered, both roof and 

240 




If 




•* ji A * 



«j .^Sj 



■4* 



TYPE OF FILIPINO WOMAN 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

walls, with leaves of the nipa palm ingeniously folded over 
bits of stick and tied to the battens by rattan. The eaves are 
very broad and the window openings, which are innocent of 
glass or of the concha-shell casements in use in the better 
class of habitations, are provided with thatched shutters, 
hung at the top, which are propped open in the daytime to 
admit light and air and are tightly closed at night. There are 
generally two rooms in the house, and the furniture consists 
chiefly of sleeping mats, pillows and a few wicker stools. The 
simplest and most primitive utensils are in use in the kitchen. 
The stove is a rude earthen sort of brazier, with projecting 
knuckles to hold the cooking vessel. Frequently this dwell- 
ing is extended, according to the taste or the ingenuity of the 
owner, into quite an elaborate arrangement of shaded plat- 
forms, store rooms and shelters. The whole structure is built 
around tall posts which, as in all the country houses, even the 
best bungalows, are firmly fixed in the ground and extend to 
the wall plate. The living and sleeping rooms, as I have 
mentioned in speaking of the huts near Manila, are raised 
five or six feet from the ground and the space below is some- 
times enclosed by mats but oftener left open and is used as a 
store-house for the large earthen jars in which rain-water 
is kept and the great, flat wash tubs hollowed out of large 
blocks of wood. 

One thing always strikes even the casual observer in all 
sections of the country and in all conditions of life, and that 
is the cleanliness of the people. They are always bathing 
and washing and it is the rarest thing to see a native in soiled 
garments. Even the beggars are comparatively clean. It 
is in consequence of these commendable habits that so few 
annoying pests of insect life are met with. During my two 
months' stay in the country I slept in all sorts of places from 
the meanest hut to the governor-general's palace and never 
had my rest disturbed by anything more annoying than mos- 
quitoes which are mild and inoffensive compared with the 



1 6 



241 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

breed which infests most places in America and many re- 
sorts in Europe. The writers on the Philippines have al- 
most unanimously declared that the archipelago is the home 
of all sorts of insects and reptiles which make life burden- 
some and I would by no means assert that they do not ex- 
ist. Still, as far as my limited experience proves, they are 
at least no more common in this part of the world than else- 
where and are infinitely less to be dreaded than in many parts 
of Europe. Many of the reptiles and insects which have a 
most noxious appearance are found on acquaintance to be 
absolutely harmless. The lizards which abound everywhere, 
even under the eye of the most careful housekeeper, are de- 
structive only to flies and mosquitoes, the huge beetles are as 
harmless as grasshoppers and even the repulsive spiders 
which are almost as large as ordinary crabs may be han- 
dled with impunity. The white ant which devours every- 
thing is the most annoying pest. 

But to return to our excursion. There assembled at din- 
ner that evening not only our party but a number of natives, 
men and women, residents of the village, whose perfect deco- 
rum and charming manners quite captivated us. They all 
spoke Spanish with ease and fluency and the ladies had all 
the grace of the Castilians. During the progress of the din- 
ner an orchestra of ten native musicians who were stationed 
on the broad veranda, played classical music with great skill 
and taste and with a spirit and dash and an individuality of 
expression which recalled the performance of the Hunga- 
rian gypsy bands. A dance naturally followed, and our 
friends proved to be as expert and graceful in the waltz and 
other modern and civilized dances as if they had passed their 
lives in European society. When at last the lateness of the 
hour urged the mothers to lead home our fascinating part- 
ners, they all strolled away with the musicians across the lawn 
in the clear, soft, embracing moonlight, singing as they went 
this patriotic air, known to them as the " Malate Volunteers." 

242 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 



VOLUNTARIOS VIVA ESPANAI 



HlMNO. 



^j^p g f y~T: j JU4J 



*^sse 



Teprome - tie - ron . 

Sva. 



Patrisqueri - da, 



Pa ra ti 






■ ju j m i 



±-*b 



^^H= 



myr- i — | 



jMUfcfc-J: 



Efe^ 



pm^s 



S 



«a 



^ 




mas. fm +.+ ^ p 




243 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

The effect was at the same time highly dramatic and en- 
chanting and we hung over the balustrade and watched the 
white-robed figures disappear among the palms and listened 
to the vanishing strains of the song until the melody became 
so faint in the distance that it was drowned by the chirping 
of the crickets and the shrill call of the tree-frogs. 

The next morning we ran over the remaining twenty-odd 
miles of the railway to the terminus, Dagupan, in the gulf of 
Lingayen, a flourishing little town with the usual impor- 
tant religious institution, many large iron-roofed warehouses 
and broad streets crowded with Chinese shops. Native huts 
cluster everywhere in the outskirts of the town and there are 
not a few comfortable looking dwellings of the better class. 
The station, riddled by shell and bullets, had been burned 
and was a total ruin. The insurgents were in large force 
there and on the platform a detachment of two or three hun- 
dred were boarding a special train which was to convey them 
to Tarlac. We strolled into the town, but were soon stopped 
by a vigilant officer who politely but firmly refused to let us 
proceed. Arguments and explanations followed, and at last 
he was convinced that we meant no harm and we were not 
troubled again. The insurgents were in a great state of ex- 
ultation over the news which had just reached them that the 
Spanish authorities had just evacuated the town of Vigan, 
an important port in the province of South Ilocos, and had 
put out to sea in local vessels with eight hundred Spanish 
soldiers and twelve hundred natives, presumably en route 
for the province of Cazayan, where they would join the 
Spanish forces in that province and probably all fall into the 
hands of the expedition which was preparing to invade that 
territory. Another cause of elation was the announcement 
that Aguinaldo's agents had succeeded in making an alliance 
with the ecclesiastical party in the provinces of Zambales and 
Pangasinan, popularly known as the Santa Iglesia, a large 
faction under control of the priests, and said to have an 

244 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

armed force of over five thousand men, which had hitherto 
remained independent and had refused to acknowledge the 
authority of the present leader of the insurrectionists. 

It so happened that the day we were at Dagupan, General 
Macabulos, the popular hero of this part of the island, who 
controls the provinces of Zambales, Pangasinan, Tarlac and 
Neuva Ecija, was expected to travel by rail to Tarlac, where 
he was to hold a conference with the generals commanding 
the forces near Manila. On our way back we found the sta- 
tions all dressed out with flags and palm branches to do 
honor to the general, and at one place a native band was in 
attendance which, curiously enough, played the Spanish 
national air as ' we slowly drew away from the station. 
Macabulos is a man of about thirty years of age, and is un- 
doubtedly the most influential officer in the north, where he 
is always spoken of as the real leader of the insurgents. We 
were confidently informed many times that no one outside 
of the provinces of Cavite and Manila had any respect for 
Aguinaldo, not only on account of his dictatorial attitude, but 
because he posed as a heaven-born ruler, who was not to be 
looked upon by common people. Indeed, in our whole ex- 
cursion we scarcely heard a good word spoken for the young 
President, who had evidently not recovered from the stigma 
of the transaction at Biacnabato. 

A few days after our agreeable and instructive journey 
into the interior, we secured a pass from Aguinaldo and, at 
the invitation of Smith, Bell & Company, took a private 
steam launch flying the Union Jack for a trip up the Pasig, 
and around the Laguna de Bay. It was one of those placid, 
balmy mornings which drive away all thoughts of strife and 
fill the soul with a sense of peace and the joy of life. As we 
made our way against the whirling current, there were many 
shocks to the grateful sense of repose which the calmness of 
nature induced, for the ugly lines of sandbag breastworks 
cut the meadows and disfigured the pleasant hillsides of 

245 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Santa Mesa, while a Spanish blockhouse near the river bank 
intruded itself aggressively into the rural landscape, and here 
and there the buildings bore unsightly scars of the recent 
siege. 

Above the mouth of the San Juan river, near Santa Mesa, 
the Pasig takes a number of abrupt turns and then passes the 
village of Santa Ana, with an immense church and a number 
of fine residences on either bank of the stream. The long, 
straight reach beyond this village, with its grassy banks and 
here and there a clump of feathery bamboos, is as pleasant 
and suggestive of picnics and boating parties as any part of 
the Thames. The charm of the river is not disturbed but 
rather increased by the queer little habitations which are 
half-hidden by the trees and by the happy groups of 
natives rambling over the meadows and through the small 
jungles. At intervals there is a populous little hamlet, with 
thickly clustered huts and a busy landing-place, where 
friendly people came out to wave greetings to us as we 
passed, and to exchange shouts with our native skipper. Just 
above San Pedro de Macati there is a comparatively straight 
passage through the broad ridge of undulating, low hills 
which extend from the Caraballo range of mountains in the 
north through the province of Manila, near the western shore 
of the lake, and finally dies out into the wide, marshy plain of 
the province of Cavite. This ridge has every appearance of 
an ancient stream of lava which flowed from the great vol- 
canic peaks in the north and, as is readily seen from the char- 
acter of the stone in the quarries in the hillsides along the 
river, is of pure volcanic composition. 

The succession of delightful glades and tiny meadows, of 
steep hillsides and rocky gorges, and the wonderfully rich 
vegetation, not too obviously tropical, but luxurious as only 
such growth can be, gives a rare and peculiar charm to the 
river at this point. The cool retreats under the shade of the 
cliffs and the remote little nooks among the rocks and trees, 

246 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

attract the native to build his hut in these secluded and quiet 
spots, for, even with his love of the company of his kind, he 
often seems to have almost the instinct of a wild animal for 
hiding his dwelling away from the sight of a white man. In 
this part of the river, too, great potteries with long sheds 
climbing up the hillside like the buildings of a coal mine, give 
employment to many people in peace times, and the great 
quarries are diligently worked to provide building stone for 
the capital and for exportation. Cascos piled high with 
nipa thatch from Malolos, others with cargoes of general 
merchandise, were sailing and poling up the stream in pict- 
uresque rank of fluttering sails and rich colors as we 
steamed along, and scores of dugouts filled with tidily 
dressed men and women dodged along the bank to escape 
our wash, or ferried across the stream from village to village. 
Occasionally a Chinaman came down to haul his net, in- 
geniously arranged on a framework of bamboo poles, or a 
party of natives with guitars and mandolins strolled down 
into one of the curious little bamboo platforms overhanging 
the water there to pass the hours of recreation in the deep 
shadow of the great manga trees, with the ever changing 
panorama of river life before them. It was a rare and 
grateful picture of peace, prosperity and contentment. 

Near the large, rambling village of Pasig, which occupies 
the western end of a large island, the river San Mateo, from 
which is drawn the water supply of Manila, flows in from the 
north, and here also is the junction of the other branches of 
the Pasig which spread out like a fan and drain the lake 
through four important outlets. Beyond the groves which 
surround this village great open marshes stretch away on 
either side to the shore of the lake, and the monotonous level 
line is uninterrupted by any prominent objects, save the great 
bamboo fish weirs and one or two small, rude wooden light- 
stations perched high above the water on slender piles. 

The lake, which is very irregular in shape, with a shore- 

247 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

line about one hundred and twenty-five miles in length and a 
diameter at the broadest part of not over twenty-five miles, 
lies between two great mountain ranges. The jagged spurs 
of the Caraballos jut out into the lake in two high and 
rugged promontories, the smallest of which is prolonged by 
the high and steeply escarped island of Talim, notable for a 
beautifully rounded peak called by the natives Susung- 
Ialaga, or the maiden's breast. To the south, the great chain 
of summits, the Sungay-Maquiling range, runs east and 
west between the Pacific ocean and the China sea. In this 
great barrier Mount Banajao, which rises over eight thou- 
sand feet above sea-level, is the most imposing peak, while 
the active volcano Taal, in the middle of the lake of the same 
name, a few miles south of the Laguna de Bay, attracts the 
eye by its peculiar broken contour, and by the cloud of smoke 
which constantly pours out of its immense crater. Directly 
east, beyond the two lofty promontories, the mountain flanks 
on either side trend away into a moderately elevated neck of 
land between the lake and the ocean, which, like the ridge 
near the opposite shore, is evidently an ancient bed of lava, 
and suggests that the lake was once an open gulf, dividing 
the present island of Luzon into two parts, and that this con- 
nection between the China sea and the Pacific was closed by 
the eruptions of the great volcanoes of the adjacent moun- 
tain ranges, which have been now extinct for ages. With 
the exception of Taal all the summits visible from the lake 
are covered with trees and we were told that a river rises in 
the bottom of the crater of Banajao, which vast and densely 
wooded chasm is more than three miles in diameter and 
nearly one thousand feet deep. 

The objective point of our excursion was originally the 
town of Santa Cruz, which is a popular resort on the eastern 
shore of the lake and within easy reach of the most famous 
gorge in this part of the island. We started rather late, how- 
ever, and found it would be impossible to visit Santa Cruz 

248 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and reach the Pasig again before navigation was effectually 
stopped by the darkness. We determined, therefore, to visit 
Los Bafios, a small village on the southern shore of the lake, 
at the foot of Mount Maquiling, where, as the name of the 
place implies, there are mineral springs. These have been 
taken possession of by the Spanish government, and a large 
hydropathic establishment has been erected, which has been 
in successful operation for several years. Besides its repu- 
tation for its waters, the place is known as the shipping point 
for kaolin, which is found in the vicinity. 

The white buildings at the springs are visible for a long 
distance, contrasting against the deep green of the tree-cov- 
ered elevations behind. As we steamed to the southward, a 
beautiful panorama unfolded itself to the east of our route, 
where tempting expanses of quiet water reflected the moun- 
tains, and the gentle slopes were agreeably varied by culti- 
vated land and forest, with here and there a cluster of native 
huts, with a fringe of bright green plantains about them. 
The broad, low ridge to the west of the lake, sloping gently 
off into the plain, showed a rich pattern of different tones of 
green, where rice and sugar cane plantations extended for 
miles in either direction, and great churches and convents 
marked the position of villages in this fertile region. The 
water of the lake was occasionally almost mustard yellow in 
color, from the presence of a minute vegetable growth, and 
everywhere the floating quiapo drifted along the surface, the 
sport of every breeze. Under the west shore a small gray 
steamer flying the insurgent flag stole along as we crossed 
the lake, and seemed to be following us with suspicion of our 
right to travel on these waters, but when our destination be- 
came evident, the watchful cruiser stood away for Santa 
Cruz and left us. 

Los Bafios does not boast a wharf, nor at present any 
facilities for the landing of visitors, except a few small out- 
rigger canoes, several of which came out to meet us as we 

249 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

dropped anchor. It was a very hot day, and the village, 
which is a small collection of huts straggling along dusty, 
winding pathways, did not look inviting, nor did the clouds 
of steam which arose from the mouth of a rivulet on the 
shore just below the great buildings tempt us to test the effi- 
cacy of the waters. We landed all the same, and were met 
on the beach by a group of friendly natives, led by the head- 
man of the village, who offered us his own services as guide 
and hospitably gave us the freedom of the place. Our first 
question was : 

"Where is the priest?" thinking he would be our best in- 
formant on the attractions of the place. 

"The insurgents have taken him away," was the reply. 
"What is going to happen to him ?" 

"Nothing, nothing at all. He is a good man and we all 
like him, and he is coming back again in a few days." 

The people were evidently keeping the Sabbath, for no 
one was at work, and the village belles were promenading in 
full dress, followed at respectful distances by timid lovers in 
immaculate white suits. The rambling, shabby buildings of 
the hydropathic establishment are quite the same in general 
plan as similar institutions the world over, and contain, be- 
sides a series of small bath rooms, a number of spacious 
lounging and reading rooms, and special apartments for the 
officials, all of which must have been quite comfortable and 
fairly attractive before the insurgents knocked the place 
about and carried off all the movable furniture. In a promi- 
nent position on the main building is an inscription which 
records that the construction was begun by Moriones in 
1879, an d finished in 1892 by Gutierrez de la Vega. This 
moderate-sized establishment must have been a bonanza for 
the contractors, if this na'ive inscription means anything. 

The waters of the springs are said to contain a number of 
carbonates and sulphates, and a considerable proportion of 
iron. The color of the rocks over which the waste water 

250 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

flows indicates that it is strongly impregnated with the latter 
element. It is quite clear, and is slightly acid and decidedly 
astringent to the taste, and its chemical composition as well 
as its temperature cause it to be much esteemed in the treat- 
ment of gout, rheumatism, scrofula and many other diseases. 
The temperature varies from sixty-eight degrees to one hun- 
dred and forty-four degrees Fahrenheit, and the air of the 
warm rooms in the bath houses is sometimes as high as one 
hundred and seventeen degrees. 

About a mile west of the village a low wooded island rises 
near the shore. It is regarded by the natives as a half- 
sacred place, and has neither clearings nor habitations. The 
name given to it by the Spaniards, Los Caimans (The Alli- 
gators), is more prosaic than the native appellation, The En- 
chanted Isle, and suggests the presence of these reptiles. It 
is oval in shape, and perhaps three-quarters of a mile wide 
on its longest diameter. A lake occupies the middle of the 
island, leaving only a narrow ridge of volcanic rock around 
its perimeter without any cleft or visible opening in this ring 
of dense jungle to serve as an outlet for the enclosed waters. 
In this desolate and lonely pool there are said to be numerous 
alligators of enormous size and of great ferocity, who retire 
here from the lake through a subterranean passage. We 
stole quietly up through the tangled undergrowth, and looked 
over the crest of the ridge, but could see no signs of life in 
the water, not even the swirl of fish. The native who guided 
us had the air of one who was trespassing on forbidden 
ground, probably assumed to impress us with the terrors of 
the island, which, whatever may be the traditions attached to 
its origin or to its present condition, is evidently the crater 
of an extinct volcano. 

The Union Jack, which has long been a familiar object in 
this neighborhood, probably gave us immunity from the trou- 
blesome questions and delays we had anticipated on this trip, 
and although we passed an insurgent steamer on the way 

251 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

back, and in our delightful run down the stream saw several 
insurgent outposts, we were not challenged, and we reached 
the palace just as the beautiful landscape was in the climax of 
its splendor in the glow of sunset, and when the sound of dis- 
tant bugles alone broke the peaceful quiet of the evening. 



CHAPTER XVII 

After the failure of the Filipino delegates to secure from 
General Otis a modification of the phraseology of the ultima- 
tum, nothing more was heard of the matter except by rumor, 
which had it that Aguinaldo had been requested to move his 
men out of the suburbs in order to avoid the constant trou- 
bles between the sentinels of the two forces. On Tuesday, 
September 13, however, a large detachment of the insurgent 
troops quartered in houses in Tondo, some of them actually 
within our own lines, was quietly marched away. The fol- 
lowing day, which was the limit fixed by the ultimatum, 
opened with an unusual movement among the natives, both 
soldiers and civilians, and it was evident that the evacuation 
was going to take place, as indeed it was expected to do. 

In the afternoon I accompanied Captain O'Hara, who was 
in command of the Third Artillery, which was stationed in 
Tondo and vicinity, into the insurgent lines just beyond our 
own sentinels, and we found several hundred men drawn up 
in line waiting for a band to arrive. Mounted ofhcers in 
fine new uniforms galloped hither and thither as if they were 
about to conduct a review. When the band came and the 
last man was straightened up by the watchful subalterns, 
the commanding officer, a young man of distinct Mongolian 
type, politely asked Captain O'Hara if he might march his 
men around through our lines to another part of the district, 
where he was to pick up another detachment of his troops. 
The captain had always been on amicable terms with the na- 
tives, and while guarding his line with vigilance and strict- 
ness, had succeeded in avoiding any disturbance of the com- 
fortable relations which existed here in a more marked de- 

253 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

gree than anywhere else in the whole circuit of the town. He 
therefore did not see why he should not grant the officer this 
permission, particularly as it seemed to be an unpremeditated 
evolution. So, with music and flags and in full martial ar- 
ray, they marched around a block past our sentinels, who 
presented arms, and out into the native quarter in the direc- 
tion of Caloocan. The march into our lines was not so in- 
nocent a performance as it appeared, for similar manoeuvres 
were executed in other districts, always with some satisfac- 
tory excuse, and it was undoubtedly a little dramatic celebra- 
tion of their change of front, intended to prove to the natives 
that the evacuation was at the will of their leaders, and not at 
the command of the American general. 

Hastening across the town towards the southern suburbs, 
the strains of military music echoing among the houses, be- 
yond the Campo de Bagumbayan, announced that the move- 
ment was in progress in Ermita, and, in a few minutes we 
saw, to our great surprise, the head of a column of Filipinos 
emerge from the Camino Real, and wheel into the Calle de 
San Luis, which leads along the southern border of the great 
open space into the Paco road. By the time we had reached 
this street, it was filled with troops, numbering three thou- 
sand or more, headed by a gallant display of officers, and 
with three large and excellent bands playing as vigorously as 
those on a street parade on Saint Patrick's day. The column 
halted, officers and aids galloped backward and forward, 
and consulted and gave orders and were full of business gen- 
erally. After a delay of ten or fifteen minutes, the order was 
given to march, and the column moved around through the 
Paco road, past the barracks of the Sixth Regular Light Ar- 
tillery, into the Calzada, at the point where they had been 
forced away on the day of the surrender, and along under the 
walls of the town, crowded with Spanish prisoners, and to 
the Luneta. Here they wheeled into the Camino Real and 
marched down this thoroughfare the whole length of Ermita 

254 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

and Malate, and out into the gathering darkness among the 
bamboo thickets at Maytubig. They certainly made a brave 
show, for they were neatly uniformed, had excellent rifles, 
marched well and looked very soldierly and intelligent. As 
for the bands, in the words of many an enthusiast among our 
soldiers, they were "out of sight," and played with great skill 
and taste. There was no little good feeling shown on both 
sides during this parade, and cheers and other friendly courte- 
sies were exchanged all along the route, until the column 
passed the large barracks at Malate, where our men hung 
over the fences and out of the windows and stood in little 
knots on the sidewalks and preserved a silence which seemed 
almost ominous. 

No definite limit had been fixed beyond which the insur- 
gents should retire, and some confusion resulted from the 
omission of this important detail. The first move they made 
was, in most parts of the line, far beyond the boundaries of 
the proper suburbs, and then, after a day or two, they pushed 
forward again until they came in touch with our lines. The 
town and its immediate vicinity are divided into ten districts, 
and the final adjustment of the limits of occupation very 
nearly coincided with those divisions. After the evacuation 
there was a general feeling of relief among our troops, and 
all felt that, although the situation remained anomalous, the 
terms of the protocol had been carried out and there was 
nothing to do but to patiently await the result of the Paris 
conference. 

The date of the assembly of the much talked of congress, 
was postponed several times, and was at last definitely fixed 
for September 15, the day after the event just described. A 
few days before Aguinaldo had made a triumphant entry into 
Malolos in a carriage drawn by white horses, and there had 
been a general celebration of his arrival, with speeches, a 
gala dinner, open air concerts and a military parade. Mr. 
Higgins, the manager of the railway, kindly, offered to take 

255 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

me up to Malolos to witness the ceremony of the inaugura- 
tion of the new government, and I was to board his special 
train at the station in Manila at seven o'clock in the morning, 
and meet him at Caloocan. The only other passenger was to 
be Aguinaldo's secretary, and as it is a well known fault of 
the natives to be indifferent about keeping appointments, I 
was asked not to hold the train a moment longer than I 
thought best. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed and then, 
just as I was giving the order to start, the secretary, a small, 
boyish-looking young man, came hurrying across the plat- 
form and into the car, apologizing volubly for his tardiness. 

We had scarcely run out of sight of Caloocan and its 
swarms of insurgents, before Mr. Higgins calmly remarked 
to the secretary that, in his opinion, if the affairs of the Fili- 
pino government were managed in the future as they were at 
present, the proposed republic would be nothing but a cheap 
farce. The secretary timidly asked what there was to com- 
plain about. 

"You see for yourself," was the reply. "Your irresponsi- 
ble people have wantonly destroyed my stations and brutally 
murdered my employees, and have vented personal spite and 
taken revenge for real or fancied wrongs all on the plea of 
making war against the enemies of the Filipino race. You 
have freely used this railway, contributing nothing to its ex- 
penses except promises to pay which I know to be useless, 
and now, when my organization is hampered by strikes, you 
encourage your so-called soldiers to take the part of the 
strikers and to keep my new hands from their work at the 
point of the bayonet. I am going to lay this fact before 
Aguinaldo to-day, and shall expect you to arrange an inter- 
view for my friend and myself." 

"It does these chaps good to be talked to straight from the 
shoulder," he said to me in English. "Since they came to 
Malolos the earth isn't big enough to hold them." 

We reached the station in about an hour and a half, and the 

256 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

secretary, who had recovered his spirits by that time with a 
change of conversation, bustled about to get us a carromato, 
climbed into another himself, and we dashed away with reck- 
less speed, jolting over the rough highway with discomfort 
and no little danger. Even the secretary could not control 
his own driver, who was intoxicated like all the natives we 
saw around the station, by the excitement at the prospect of 
the great event soon to take place in the quiet little town, 
and we could see him arguing and gesticulating earnestly. 
His protests were unheeded, however, until the wheels made 
a tremendous jump, threw the officer against the framework 
of the cover, smashed his hat, damaged one eye, and gener- 
ally disarranged his careful toilette. After that we went 
along at an unofficial pace, and could see something of the 
new capital as we entered it. 

The town, which is chiefly noted for its large convent and 
churches, and also as the centre of the manufacture of nipa 
thatch, which is sent from this place by water all over the 
island, is a long straggling assemblage of huts and houses 
a mile or so from the railway, and, together with the adjoin- 
ing large village of Barasoain, numbers perhaps thirty or 
forty thousand people. The long narrow road was very gay 
with natives, as we drove along with a score of other carro- 
matos, almost as heavily loaded down with human freight as 
the carricoli in Naples. From the first humble nipa hut to the 
great square where the convent stands, thousands of insur- 
gent flags fluttered from every window and every post. Many 
of them were of home manufacture, with printed blue and 
red calico stripes ; many of them were lacking the Malay sun 
and the three stars in the white triangle, but the general sym- 
bol of red, white, and blue, was there all the same, and the 
proud occupants of the lowliest huts did their best with palm 
leaves and flowers to give a support of festive appearance to 
their cherished banner. On either side of the road, in true 
Filipino taste, was a line of bamboo posts with fringes whit- 

x ? 257 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

tied out at each joint, with swags of bamboo and rattan con- 
necting the uprights so as to form a continuous border of 
rude but effective decoration. In front of these bamboo 
structures, which gave room for people to pass between them 
and the wattled fences, was a line of infantrymen, all armed 
and well dressed, mostly in captured Spanish uniforms. 
Every man had an insurgent tricolor cockade on his Spanish 
hat, and all but a very few of them were barefooted. The 
bridge over the river between Barasoain and Malolos was 
packed with people, and the hundreds of barcas laden with 
nip a thatch, which completely hid the water of the small 
stream, were swarming with white-clad natives, all eagerly 
watching the road. We passed on rapidly between the lines 
of soldiers and under a great bamboo triumphal arch into the 
convent yard, where a fine military band was playing under 
the shade of immense manga-trees. Just as we were alight- 
ing there appeared a party of twenty or more Spanish priests 
under a strong guard of insurgents, who paraded them off 
in triumph through the crowd. The priests were all dressed 
in black and carried black umbrellas, with which some of 
them managed to conceal their faces, for they apparently did 
not relish the performance. Those we could see were un- 
shaven and unkempt, and not very charitable-looking indi- 
viduals, but they were all fat and well fed enough, and gave 
the lie to the report that the insurgents are maltreating the 
Spanish priests they have captured. One of the officers at 
Malolos told me there were sixty priests at work on the roads 
not far away, but they were just as well off as any other 
prisoners. 

We were soon informed that Aguinaldo would receive us, 
so we followed the secretary up the broad stairs of the con- 
vent, through a long, wide corridor, always between lines of 
infantrymen, meeting, on our way a score of generals and 
high officials, some of them in khaki uniforms, some of them 
in Spanish blue linen, and certain dignitaries in full evening 

258 




AGUINALDO 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

dress. Ushered into a large salon, hideous with the usual 
Hispano-Filipino painted decoration and glittering with mir- 
rors, we were offered chairs, of which there was a large 
choice, from elaborately carved and gilded hideosities to the 
simple Viennese bent-wood, cane bottomed variety, and we 
sat for some time, while there was a continual coming and 
going, with great formality, through a door on the right. 
Our turn arriving, we were ushered into a small square ante- 
chamber, where three bent-wood chairs were arranged in a 
formal row in front of two others. We were asked to make 
ourselves comfortable in the three chairs. A box of fresh 
Manila cigars of large size, ostentatiously wrapped in tin- 
foil, and with a specially large and highly ornamental band, 
was handed us to select from, and while we were lighting 
up, a small individual, in full evening black suit and flowing 
black tie, presented himself before us. Never having seen 
the gentleman before in civilian's dress, I did not for a mo- 
ment recognize him, but was struck at once by the Chinese 
cast of his head and features. An instant later I saw, of 
course, it was Aguinaldo, and we all three sat down, after a 
handshake, and began our chat. 

My companion did not delay to make his complaint and 
expressed his opinion quite as forcibly as when he was talk- 
ing with the secretary. Aguinaldo listened attentively, but 
no trace of emotion disturbed the weary calm of his expres- 
sion. At last he said, in scarcely audible tones : 

"I will attend to this matter of the strikers !" and abruptly 
changed the topic by asking us if we did not wish to attend 
the opening of the Congress. Of course we were only too 
glad to be present under the auspices of the President him- 
self, and the secretary was summoned and instructed to see 
that we were well placed in the assembly. In the course of 
the desultory conversation which followed, we tried hard 
to draw from him some kind of an opinion on subjects of 



2 59 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

public interest, but to every leading question he invariably 
replied : 

"My people will decide," or, "I shall be obliged to refer 
this to my people in whose hands I am/' 

Therefore there was nothing said worthy of record. 

He is not a very good Spanish scholar, and does not ex- 
press himself in very fluent Castilian, even when he wishes to 
talk, and on this occasion he had evidently made up his mind 
to avoid committing himself to any statement which might 
be quoted later. Perhaps he had read an interview which 
appeared in a Hong-Kong paper, which described him as ab- 
solutely ignorant, not only of the geography of the East, but 
of the prominent political facts which every schoolboy is more 
or less familiar with. During the interview his manner was 
quite irreproachable, but he spoke in such a low tone and so 
indistinctly that we had considerable difficulty in understand- 
ing him. His personality on that occasion was decidedly 
unimpressive, and as far as I could judge, his mental charac- 
teristics are in no degree unusual. He undoubtedly has the 
acute cunning of the half-bred native, much of the astuteness 
of the Chinaman, with the extraordinary personal vanity and 
the light mental calibre of the Filipino. The interview took 
place, to be sure, under exceptional circumstances, and he 
may not, in his preoccupation, have done himself justice, but 
I never met him when he impressed me as anything more 
than a figurehead in the hands of active and more or less 
reliable advisers. 

Many of those about him that day had evidently more 
mental capacity, were certainly better educated than he is, 
and easily his superior in the external qualities, at least, which 
distinguish leaders among men. Nothing that he did on 
the occasion of the opening of the congress, and nothing he 
has since done, has caused me to modify this opinion ; but it 
has rather become more firmly fixed, and the impression has 
become, indeed, more convincing. 

260 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

Up to the time of the definite organization of the revolu- 
tionary government, which did a great work in harmonizing 
many diverse and conflicting interests, and brought into line 
many obstreperous leaders, Aguinaldo's powers were mostly 
dominant over the lower class of the people of his own tribe 
the Tagalos. They had a superstitious veneration for him, 
which is not unusual in the Philippines whenever a man 
among the people comes to the front, for his eminence is gen- 
erally atributed to superhuman powers, and he is supposed to 
possess a particularly effective ang ting ang ting or charm 
which protects him from harm and gives him a rank above 
his fellows. 

Charms and amulets are commonly worn by the people. 
They sometimes consist of a piece of calico shaped like a 
chest protector on which are rudely drawn in ink crude repre- 
sentations of religious symbols, sometimes of a bit of paper 
with mystic words in magic circles, and oftener of a small 
object which is popularly believed to be a charm like the rab- 
bit's foot among our southern negroes. Aguinaldo's fol- 
lowers frequently carry in their mouths, during a fight, a slip 
of parchment on which the leader's name is written and this 
fetich is supposed to turn aside the enemy's bullets. There 
are many stories told of his superhuman powers and of his 
absolute immunity from bodily injury at the hands of his 
antagonists. 

After a half-hour's talk which the President did not seem 
anxious to have ended, we took our leave with almost as 
much ceremony as if we were retiring from the presence of 
royalty. This we did because we saw others go through a 
still more formal withdrawal and we were anxious to avoid 
wounding the susceptibilities of the natives. 

At the large basilica of Barasoain we found a large 
number of the delegates already assembled, and the guards 
drawn up to receive the expected cortege of the Presi- 
dent and his suite. The bald interior of the church was 

261 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

sparsely relieved by crossed palm-leaves and wreaths fast- 
ened to the columns which divide the nave from the aisles, 
and on the great bare spaces between the windows. In 
the middle of the nave were two bent- wood chairs; on 
either side and behind these, in the aisles, were seats and 
benches for spectators. To the left of the chancel a long 
table, draped with blue and red, was arranged for the 
secretaries, and opposite it were special seats for in- 
vited guests, and in the front one next to the chancel 
rail we were assigned our places. The chancel was hung 
with a great white drapery, rudely painted to represent er- 
mine, and a broad border of red cloth with palm leaves and 
wreaths framed in this curtain. Crossed insurgent flags or- 
namented the pilasters on each side, and in the middle of the 
chancel, under the imitation ermine, was a long table draped 
with light blue and crimson, and behind this three large 
carved chairs. While we were waiting for the functionaries 
to arrive, we had an excellent opportunity of studying those 
who had come from all over the island to assist in the foun- 
dation of a republic — for this was their professed purpose. 
Every man was dressed in full black costume of more or less 
fashionable cut, according to his means or his tastes. Many of 
them wore full evening dress, some of them had silk hats of 
quaint shape and well-worn nap, others bowlers of the sea- 
son of 1890, but all, to a man, were in black. It was a swel- 
tering hot day, too, and they suffered for their adherence to 
the etiquette of the new Filipino government. But states- 
men all do have to suffer in hot weather, if one may take 
as true the definition of the difference between a statesman 
and a politician which is that a statesman always wears a 
buttoned-up black frock-coat, and a politician a sack-coat 
or a cut-away, or any coat he likes. That difference came to 
my mind at once when I saw these statesmen fanning them- 
selves vigorously with their hats, and just behind them the 
natives, politicians all of them, in cool, almost diaphanous, 

262 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

garments, with their shirts worn as the Russians and Chi- 
nese wear theirs. Such types as there were among these 
statesmen ! Such queer-shaped heads, such a mixture of dis- 
tinct racial characteristics in the features of many, such un- 
mistakable lines of pure Indian breed in the profiles of oth- 
ers ! All were dark skinned, had strong-growing black hair 
and sparse mustaches or beards. Scarcely a sign of the frost 
of age showed on the head of any delegate. Few among 
them would have escaped notice in a crowd, for they were 
exceptionally alert, keen, and intelligent in appearance, and, 
as a mass, much superior to the native as one sees him in or- 
dinary life. I will not be sure, however, that the dress was 
not a little responsible for the impression they made on me. 
Possibly they would not have looked so distinguished if they 
had worn their shirts a la Russe. 

At last, to the sound of the national march, the delegates 
moved in a body to the door and then back again, divided, and 
then Aguinaldo, looking very undersized and very insignifi- 
cant, came marching down, bearing an ivory stick with gold 
head and gold cord and tassels. A group of tall, fine-look- 
ing generals and one or two dignitaries in black accompanied 
him, and half surrounded him as they walked along. Mount- 
ing the chancel steps, Aguinaldo took the middle seat behind 
the table, the Acting Secretary of the Interior took the place 
on his right, and a general occupied the carved chair on his 
left. Without any formal calling to order, the secretary rose 
and read the list of delegates, and sat down again. Then 
Aguinaldo stood up, and after the feeble vivas had ceased, 
took a paper from his pocket, and in a low voice, without gest- 
ures and without emphasis, and in the hesitating manner 
of a schoolboy, read his message in the Tagalo language. 
Only once was he interrupted by vivas, and that was when 
he alluded to the three great free nations — England, France 
and America — as worthy models for imitation. He next 
read a purported translation in Spanish with even more dif- 

263 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

ficulty, and when he had finished there was quite a round of 
cheers, proposed and led by the veteran general Buencamino, 
for the President, the republic, the victorious army, and for 
the town of Malolos. Then Aguinaldo arose and declared 
the meeting adjourned until it should reassemble prepared 
to elect officers and to organize in the regular manner. The 
long-talked-of and ever-memorable function was over. 

Aguinaldo's message has never to my knowledge, been 
printed in Tagalo, but any one slightly familiar with that 
language could readily understand that his sentiments were 
more fully declared than those which were handed us as his 
message printed in the Spanish language, or at least were 
differently expressed. General Merritt issued his proclama- 
tion in three languages. Many of the delegates at the con- 
gress were only moderately familiar with Spanish, and it is 
a common thing for the Filipino newspapers to print in both 
Tagalo and Spanish, but their reports of the congress con- 
tained the Spanish version only. I supposed at the time that 
I was the only foreign correspondent present, but later I dis- 
covered another, whose type did not readily mark him as a 
foreigner. He was the correspondent of the Japanese pa- 
pers, the Chingaishogioshimpo, the Jijishimpo, and the Tai- 
wannichinichishinbun. 

The Spanish version of the massage reads in translation 
as follows : 

"Representatives: — The work of the revolution being 
happily terminated and the conquest of our territory com- 
pleted, the moment has arrived to declare that the mission 
of arms has been brilliantly accomplished by our heroic army 
and now a truce is declared in order to give place to councils 
which the country offers to the service of the government in 
order to assist in the unfolding of its programme of liberty 
and justice, the divine message written on the standards of 
the revolutionary party. 

"A great and glorious task, an undertaking within the ca- 
pacity of every class of patriots, is it for undisciplined troops 

264 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

to fight and to break lances in opposition to the injustice done 
to those whom they defend and protect. But this is not all. 

"It remains for us, further, to solve the grave and super- 
eminent problems of peace for those for whom our father- 
land demanded from us the sacrifice of our blood and of our 
fortunes and now at the present time calls for a solemn docu- 
ment, expressive of the high aspirations of the country, ac- 
companied by all the prestige and all the grandeur of the 
Filipino race, in order to salute with this the majesty of those 
nations which are united in accomplishing the high results of 
civilization and progress. 

"To these great friendly nations, whose glorious liberty is 
sung by the muse of History was addressed the sacred in- 
vocation which accompanied our undertaking in its incredible 
acts of valor, to these nations the Filipino people now sends 
its cordial salutations of lasting alliance. 

"At this opening of the temple of the laws, I know how 
the Filipino people, a people endowed with remarkable good 
sense, will assemble. Purged of its old faults, forgetting three 
centuries of oppression, it will open its heart to the noblest 
aspirations and its soul to the joys of freedom; proud of its 
own virtues without pity for its own weaknesses, here in the 
church of Barasoain, once the sanctuary of mystic rites, now 
the august and stately temple of the dogmas of our inde- 
pendence, here it is assembled in the name of peace, perhaps 
close at hand, to unite the suffrages of our thinkers and of 
our politicians, of our warlike defenders of our native soil 
and of our learned Tagalo psychologists, of our inspired 
artists and of the eminent personages of the bench, to write 
with their votes the immortal book of the Filipino constitu- 
tion as the supreme expression of the national will. 

"Illustrious spirits of Rizal, of Lopez Jaena, of Hilario del 
Pilar! August shades of Burgos, Pelaez and Panganiban! 
Warlike geniuses of Aguinaldo and Tirona, of Natividad and 
Evangelista! Arise a moment from your unknown graves! 
See how history has passed by right of heredity from your 
hands to ours, see how it has been multiplied and increased 
to an immense size to infinity by the gigantic strength of 
our arms, and more than by arms, by the eternal, divine sug- 
gestion of liberty which burns like a holy flame in the Fili- 
pino soul. Neither God nor the fatherland grants us a tri- 

265 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

umph except on the condition that we share with you the lau- 
rels of our hazardous struggle. 

"And you, representatives of popular sovereignty, turn 
your eyes to the lofty example of these illustrious patriots ! 

"Let this example and their revered memory, as well as 
the generous blood spilled on the battlefields, be a potent in- 
centive to arouse in you a noble spirit of emulation to dictate 
with the great wisdom your high mandate demands, the laws 
which in this fortunate era of peace are destined to govern 
the political destinies of our country." 

Besides inducing comparative harmony between the lead- 
ers of the insurgents, the formal establishment of a revolu- 
tionary government had the effect of gaining the support of 
many of the educated natives who had hitherto refrained 
from taking an active part in the movement and had neither 
contributed money nor had openly encouraged the insurrec- 
tion. In the organization of the congress, Pedro A. Paterno 
was chosen president of the assembly, Benito Legarda, vice- 
president and Gregorio Araneta and Pablo Ocampo first and 
second secretaries. These names were the best guarantee 
that the newly established government was representative of 
the people of cultivation and education and wealth as well 
as of the lower classes who had initiated and carried on the 
revolt against the Spaniards. The President and Vice-Presi- 
dent were influential and wealthy citizens of Manila and the 
latter had made a tour of the world with his whole family 
and had visited the United States during the period of the 
Chicago exposition. The secretaries were both well known 
members of the legal profession and by their influence was 
brought into the councils the most eminent man of the Ta- 
galo race Cayetano Arellano whose conversion to the cause 
of the insurrection, though tardy, was of great moment. 
Arellano is a man universally esteemed for his uprightness of 
character and his sound judgment as well as for his culture 
and. education and has been for years a professor of juris- 
prudence in the university of Santo Tomas and the attorney 

266 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

of the municipal government of Manila. In the early days of 
the trouble he retired to a secluded country house near the 
shore of the Laguna de Bay and, until the present, had stead- 
ily refused to countenance the insurrection in any way. It 
was therefore considered a triumph for the new government 
to secure the co-operation of this eminent citizen and he was 
chosen Minister of Foreign Affairs. I do not know whether 
he ever performed the functions of the office, if indeed there 
were any to perform. It never came in my way to meet this 
gentleman and, indeed, he was only seen once in Manila dur- 
ing my stay there, but I visited many of the leading Filipino 
residents of the town in their own houses and always found 
them very agreeable and well informed gentlemen. Not a 
single one of them professed to be in favor of Filipino inde- 
pendence, asserting that it would be absolutely impossible 
for any one tribe, however, powerful, to dominate with per- 
manent authority a population composed of such a mixture 
of races, every one of which was jealous of the others. When 
men of superior mental calibre and high standing in the 
community like those of whom I speak came into the con- 
trolling body of the newly established government, holding 
these opinions, it promised well for the policy to be developed 
at Malolos and there was a hopeful prospect that the hysteri- 
cal ambitions of misguided people might be controlled and 
brought within reasonable bounds by the sober advice and 
the calm judgment of the most eminent men of the Tagalo 
race. Subsequent events have proved that their influence 
was without permanent results. 

When I left Manila on September 22, the congress was 
busy drawing up laws and preparing a scheme for the gov- 
ernment of the country, and it was so fully preoccupied with 
this work that it might almost have been believed to be sin- 
cere in the desire for the state of peace which had been the 
text of the President's message. News of continued activity 
of the insurgent forces all over the island of Luzon and of ex- 

267 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 



tensive preparations for a campaign against the Spaniards 
in Panay and other adjacent islands proved, however, that 
the professed aspirations for the resumption of the arts of 
peace were only empty phrases and that it was a case of the 
lion and the lamb lying down together in contentment after 
the lamb was safe inside the lion. 

It may possibly be understood from this detailed narrative 
of the incidents of the capture and the occupation of Manila 
and of the complicated and unpleasant relations which arose 
between our troops and the insurgents that the natives are 
what the French would call difficile and I must therefore ex- 
plain that I have only given one side of the picture. Most 
of our men had never any dealings with semi-barbaric people 
and they were absolutely unable to comprehend their nature 
or to appreciate the motives of the Filipinos who were, from 
the American point of view, almost as far removed from the 
condition of civilized man as are the anthropoid apes. 
Personally, I never had any difficulties with the natives ex- 
cept those which naturally resulted from the state of tension 
which existed. The officers and the soldiers with whom I 
came in contact under ordinary circumstances were always 
courteous and friendly and the natives not bearing arms were 
as gentle and mild mannered as any other people of Malay 
stock. They have many and grave faults, but they have re- 
markable virtues as well. Since their faults are different 
from those to which we are accustomed they take a more 
prominent place in our estimation of their character and the 
temperament of this interesting race. They are said to be 
irregular in their habits of work and are shiftless and im- 
provident. That is, of course, partly the result of climate 
and of long oppression, but it is really temperamental at the 
bottom. They are also commended for loyalty to those for 
whom they conceive an affection, for remarkable domestic 
virtues and for generous instincts of hospitality. They are 
extremely sensitive and nervous and have a strong sense of 

268 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

justice which, if once outraged breeds in their minds a spirit 
of vindictivness which almost amounts to a madness. 

Although they manufacture and sell a crude and strong 
kind of spirits they are habitually temperate. It happened 
to me on one or two occasions, especially in the middle of 
September when our men had been paid off and there was 
no little drunkenness among them, to find among the natives 
a surprising ignorance of the effects of alcohol which, if I 
had not observed myself, I should certainly be loath to be- 
lieve possible. 

A curious incident occurred one afternoon when the men 
were spending their money freely, having exchanged their 
pay at the proportion of two to one for Mexican coin and 
the town was alive with Chinamen carrying sandal wood 
chests which were greatly esteemed by the soldiers. I was 
crossing Malate square on my way to the cable office, when 
a native came up and asked me to go to the assistance of one 
of our men who was suffering from sunstroke. I hurried off 
with him to an enclosure in front of a house on the street 
and, looking through the iron railings, saw a volunteer on 
top of a boundary wall between two gardens, swaying to and 
fro and evidently incapable of even sitting upright. He pres- 
ently fell over into the garden, quite limp and disjointed, and 
lay there for a while, then staggered to his feet and reeled 
into the deserted house. I saw at once, of course, that it was 
a case of too much drink and explained it to the anxious na- 
tives who crowded around. But they would not believe it 
and insisted that it was the effect of the hot sun. A few 
minutes later, some soldiers of the man's own regiment came 
along and attempted to drag their comrade to his quarters. 
He broke away, rushed into native shops, overturning their 
store of fruits and smashing things generally like a cowboy 
on a spree in a Western town. Not once did the natives lose 
their temper or make a move to use force, but patiently en- 
dured the rough usage and tried to quiet the uproarious vol- 

269 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

unteer and to persuade him to go home. The last I saw of 
him he was struggling with the guard like a madman and 
as I went on my way the women were still pointing to their 
foreheads and saying with an expression of pity : 

"Sun too hot, sun too hot !" 

The love of music is universal among the natives and they 
learn to play any instrument with great facility. In some 
of the ordinary nipa huts I saw upright pianos and in nearly 
every one was hanging a guitar or a similar article of im- 
proved construction. Under one of these dwellings, built on 
the low ground near the palace, a native workman was al- 
ways busy making excellent and highly finished mandolins, 
and after dark the sound of human voices accompanied by 
the tinkle of strings was heard on every side. Native melo- 
dies are rarely sung in the neighborhood of Manila, and the 
music is all distinctly Spanish in character or was, at least, 
until it was corrupted by the stale refrains of the once popu- 
lar music-hall songs, "After the Ball Is Over" and "Ta-ra-ra 
Boom de Ay," which were speedily in great vogue every- 
where. 

We had little opportunity of studying the indigenous art 
of the Philippines, but the native, as might be expected from 
his temperament, has a natural inclination in the direction of 
art and many students of the Manila School of Fine Arts 
show a considerable degree of talent, particularly of an imi- 
tative order. A few small articles of native wood carving 
which are barbaric in design but precise and highly finished 
in execution are the only specimens of the unadulterated art 
of the country which I managed to find and those were sold 
me by a native in the insurgent trenches. There is less to be 
seen in the way of distinctive and characteristic manufactures 
in Manila than in any other colonial town in the East and the 
Chinese seem to be the only artisans who produce anything 
which is not imitated from Spanish or, at least, from Euro- 
pean models. 

270 



CHAPTER XVIII 

By the courtesy of Colonel Pope, the chief quartermaster, 
I was permitted to take passage on the transport City of Rio 
de Janeiro which was to sail on September 22. Depressing 
indeed was the contrast between the passengers who came 
aboard in the harbor and those who had landed at Cavite only 
a few weeks before in the full prime of health and exuberant 
spirits. The vessel had been selected as a temporary hospital 
ship, on account of her cleanliness and her spacious accom- 
modations, to transport to San Francisco all the convales- 
cent sick and wounded whom it was thought advisable to 
send home. Although there were only one hundred and 
forty-eight assigned to the ship, the embarkation went on 
for nearly two days. Slowly and painfully the hollow-eyed, 
emaciated and haggard soldiers crawled up the steep com- 
panion ladder and, once on the clean and shady deck, they 
took a long breath of the refreshing sea air and thanked God 
they were out of Manila. Limp and helpless men, ghastly 
spectacles of wretchedness and misery, were carried aboard 
on stretchers and carefully placed in bunks in the hospital 
prepared on the main deck amid-ship. Those who could get 
about were given berths in the cabin staterooms which were 
numerous enough to accommodate everybody. Almost every 
organization in the army of occupation was represented on 
the steamer and the list included eight commissioned officers. 

The order for the immediate departure of the steamer 
had been issued on the 10th, but there had been many delays 
incident to the preparation for the voyage and much time 
was lost on account of the inexperience of the company com- 
manders in making out the papers for their men according 
to the dictates of the Army Regulations. Dr. G. W. Daywalt 
of San Francisco, who was one of the party on the Newport, 

271 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

was chosen for his well-proved capabilities to have charge 
of the floating hospital and an efficient corps of assistants 
and nurses was detailed for the trip. 

When the plan of sending home the convalescents had been 
first considered it was proposed to furnish them with the 
regular army ration. This would have been fatal to a large 
proportion of the sick, nearly half of whom were recovering 
from typhoid fever or from dysentery and more humane 
councils prevailed and, since it was discovered by some stu- 
dent of the Army Regulations that the rations for men in hos- 
pital could be commuted at sixty cents per diem, a contract 
was made with Captain Ward of the City of Rio de Janeiro 
to feed the patients for that sum. Remembering the experi- 
ence of the invalided soldiers sent home from Cuba it is most 
satisfactory to be able to record the fact that this contract 
was carried out with liberality and that the convalescents 
had the very best diet and attention. They had their meals 
comfortably in the saloon and the officers of the ship did 
everything in their power to make the men contented and 
happy. Those who are accustomed to sea travel will ap- 
preciate what this means. 

I copy a bill of fare of a day chosen at random to show 
what was provided: 

Breakfast — Cornmeal mush, beefsteak, dry hash, hot rolls, 
boiled potatoes, bread and butter, coffee. 

Dinner — Vegetable soup, roast beef and mashed potatoes, 
apricot and peach pies, bread and butter, tea, pickles, etc. 

Supper — Irish stew, dry hash, baked potatoes, stewed 
prunes, bread and butter, tea, etc. 

This part was satisfactory enough, but, on the other hand, 
the ship was sent away without a penny of money in the 
hands of the surgeon-in-charge to pay for anything at Hong- 
Kong or any other port, or for any incidental expenses on 
board ship or at landing. Anticipating the probable need of 
coffins, application was made for a reasonable number of 

272 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

these, but none could be allowed. The surgeon-in-chief in 
Manila, Dr. Lippincott, paid for certain necessities out of 
his own pocket and I fancy Dr. Daywalt's connection with 
the trip was not a profitable one. The Army Regulations and 
the cut and dried system which was not invented for the con- 
ditions prevailing in the Philippines did not recognize the 
possibility of an emergency and there seemed to be no way of 
providing for the expenses of burial of those who might die 
on the way home. At that time the Red Cross Society, which 
had a large and well provided branch in Manila was scan- 
dalously managed and nothing could be had from that 
source. 

We were ready to sail at three o'clock in the afternoon and, 
just before the order was given to start the windlasses, a 
weary and haggard old man dressed in a ragged brown uni- 
form toiled up the ladder and, as he stepped on the deck, was 
asked for his papers. He replied that the hospital steward 
had told him he would find them on the steamer. Search 
was made but they were not discovered and, although he was 
identified by one of the hospital corps as a patient who had 
received permission to go home, there was nothing to do but 
to follow the orders and refuse him passage, particularly as 
he had no authority to draw rations. No one who was pres- 
ent will ever forget the look of horror and distress which 
came into his lustreless eyes when the captain told him that 
he must go back, explaining that he was strictly ordered to 
take no one without his papers. It was the expression of a 
man who hears his death sentence pronounced and knows 
that he has been unjustly convicted. There was no resent- 
ment in his look, only utter hopelessness, despair and the 
weariness of long suffering. He leaned a moment against 
the rail and then, straightening up as well as he could, said 
in a low piteous tone: "For God's sake, gentlemen, let me 
go ! If I am sent back I shall die. I belong to no regiment, 
I have no money and I am too ill to work as you see." 

18 273 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

"Who are you, then?" demanded the captain with all the 
sternness he could command. 

"I came out as one of the cooks of General and 

worked hard day and night in the mud camp cutting wood, 
boiling water, getting meals in the pouring rain and always 
wet and tired. When we got into Manila the fever came on 
me and I was sent to the hospital where I have been ever 
since. You don't know what it is, gentlemen, to be alone as 
I am, with no officer to look out for me and no comrades. 
It means misery and it means homesickness ! I was in a 
Massachusetts regiment in the rebellion and when this war 
broke out the old war fever got me so badly that I had to go. 
I thought I was as young as anybody else, but they wouldn't 
take me on account of my age. But I had to go. I could 
not see the fellows marching away and leaving me and so I 
finally got a place as a cook. 

"But I am too old for the work. I found it out too late. 
Gentlemen, have pity on me ! If you send me ashore you send 
me to my death ! I am worn out. I am too old. I am home- 
sick ! I would crawl all the way to San Francisco if I could. 
I will work for you. I will shovel coal. I will clean the 
decks. I will wash the dishes. I will do anything if you will 
let me go. I am homesick! I am homesick! I am home- 
sick !" and he broke down utterly. 

The wretchedness of this poor waif on the turbulent sea of 
humanity was too much for us and we took the captain aside 
and agreed to be responsible for the man's keep if there was 
no other reason why he should not stay on board. 

"I'll chip in myself, of course," said the captain, "but the 
officers must be certain of the identity of the fellow, that's 
all." 

Then, turning to the man, he said, with a noticeable quaver 
in his voice: 

"All right, these gentlemen agree to see you through and 
you may stay aboard," and as he walked quickly away to his 

274 



EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 

chart room we saw him pass the back of his hand under the 
peak of his cap. The old man staggered below and we did 
not see him again for days for he stowed himself in some 
remote corner. Later on the stewards reported that he was 
better and was always at work cleaning the quarters. 

It was a soft, hazy day and the outlines of the mountains 
were but faintly seen through the quivering air. We ran 
along the familiar shore, took a last look at the Luneta, the 
hospitable clubhouse, the stone fort, the white house at May- 
tubig, the bamboo thickets and the clustering houses at Ca- 
vite. Then, as we slowly passed the towering island of Cor- 
regidor, the domes and lofty buildings of Manila faded away 
into the vibrating distance, the great expanse of the China 
sea opened out before us and the western coast of Luzon 
stretched away in a grand succession of bold headlands until 
lost in the perspective. Fortunately the sea was quite mo- 
tionless except for a slight ruffling of the surface caused by 
the gentlest of breezes. The cool sea air gave great comfort 
to the invalids who had so long breathed the atmosphere of a 
hospital ward. Stretched in reclining chairs or on cots the 
sick and wounded who were able to be on deck welcomed 
the change of scene, and improved rapidly from the first 
hour. Sad to say, there were among those in the hospital 
several whose vitality was so low that the flickering spark 
of life did not respond to the change of air and fresh com- 
forts and two died before we reached Hong-Kong. A firing- 
party was organized among the wounded men, services were 
read by one of the officers, and the haunting wail of the too 
familiar call blown on a captured Spanish bugle echoed over 
the sea while the steamer drifted slowly away from the little 
ring of troubled waters which alone broke the glassy surface 
now glorified by the reflection from the wonderful sunset 
sky. Thus many a chapter of an active life was ended on 
that dreary voyage. 

THE END 



^ 






c 



o O x 







^ <* 



0° 





















V ^ 



•J> 



<\ 




^v 



0» o 









V 5 ^ 



v 









* V ^ ^» 



*6 o x 



* 4 V 




•r- 



j- 






- 









«t? 















ory 






,0o. 










o o x 
Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 






Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: April 2003 

PreservationTechnologies 



.Oo. 






Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 




,1> 



~<S' Jo-' * j\\ '- , ^- 






' *f> 


































LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




010 441 117 4 • 



■ 



1 

51191 



HH 
HUtA 



Bi 






